A Skxawng and his Gaia are soon Parted
by cpnelson
Summary: Tomitxe, young and impressionable daughter of Jake and Neytiri narrates life on Pandora and the events of their climactic clash of cultures and destiny with the people of Earth.
1. A Skxawn and his Gaia are soon Parted01

FAN FIC – **AVATAR: The Skxawng and his Gaia are soon parted.**

By Christopher Paul "Txur`itan" Nelson

*** learn Na'vi at **learnnavi DOT ORG** - Dictionary - **mwf-data DOT clonk2c DOT ch SLASH dvi SLASH attach SLASH NaviDictionary DOT pdf **

Chapter 1 – **A primal Scream from across the cosmos.**

_Oel zene pivlltxe Eywaru sì fizayuru fa Utral Aymokriyä, fpi fpìyeve' ayupxare fraporu sì frapoyä 'evengur sì frapoyä 'evengä 'evengur._ ~ I give these memories to Eywa for our children and our children's children.

_Kaltxì. Ngaru lu fpom srak?_ ~ Hello, how are you?

After my story, you may ask yourself this a different way. As always, I hope the answer is… good, well and at peace.

I now have a new place among the Na'vi, the voice of Eywa. We are also called the keeper of the stories, real and not, good and not. I am not the first, but what I learn and what I teach is not like before. It is my duty to share my story with Eywa, and her stories with the people.

They must know what has happened in the war with the sky people; they must know why it happened, and a lesson to think how it must never happen again.

My father told me he came from the world of the _Aysawtute_ ~ the sky people. He showed me his old metal bones so that I knew his story was true. He, with the help of Mo'at, my grandmother, had me pass through the eye of Eywa to meet with Augustine. He wanted me to know the ways of the Sky People, some good, some selfish, and some curious; I was taught there are those who are unbalanced, and have a bad mix of each and more.

I was shown these ways of the Sky People, to teach a lesson of the way to Eywa, so that we do not walk the path of the sky people. A people too curious to help their own people to thrive, so selfish they start killing their mother, too trusting causing troubles like in the time of great sorrow.

I have learned from my father and mother that sharing stories saved our people. It is the most important thing we can do. It is a great honor that Mo'at and Neytiri has taught me so much, but what I do is different, more difficult, it is a new way to interpret the will of Eywa. It is a way of ensuring that all people know the will of Eywa, and that Eywa knows the will of her children.

My father calls the ritual, the "heads-up" in the language of the Sky People; it means warnings of bad things. Words like this that come from the _Toruk Mokto_ ~ Rider of Last Shadow, they are likely to cause _Na'viyä ayevneg_ ~ the Na'vi children, to hide. Because of this I try never use these words for _lrrtok lì'u_ ~ smile words, for humor mostly.

A First story I must share, the story of the before times, few years after Rider of Last Shadow first united the clans against the Sky People Warriors. It is a strange and terrible story, but a lesson all must know, much can be learned from it.

To understand my story, you must first think like the Sky People do, you must first hate Eywa or forget her, and this is hard, and sad, it would frighten us all, but this is what the Sky People did, and it is how they came to be like they are.

Their mother, they called her Gaia or Earth, and she was once so very mighty. Gaia was born of fire, long ago, before the sky people learned to fly amongst the stars. She spilled forth the land and the trees, breathed life into the sky people, and made for them a home in her bosom. They once only hunted for food, and for warmth. Eventually, the home of the sky people became so very cold; I think this is what froze many of their hearts.

They learned how to build machines, to move them, to help them, to control Gaia and her infinite bounty. Some machines made life easier for a few and harder for many, some made life easier for many and harder for few, it was not always clear why they made them at all.

They were not content with the round shape a home tree took, so they made it a square. They were not satisfied with hunting for food; they hunted for play, for games, for decorations in their home trees. They were not satisfied with a bow and a tent; they wanted a home tree to themselves, and more beyond that. They were not satisfied with a _pa'li ~ Dire horse_; they gave it the wheel, and made _pa'li_ pull bigger things. And when that was not fast enough, they made a machine to replace the _pa'li_, and when the machine was not fast enough, they made a faster machine. These machines were made by sky people, until the sky people where not good enough, strong enough, or fast enough in the _menari_ ~ eyes of their leaders. With contempt for each other, they made machines to make machines, and made each other live in the _kllte apay_ ~ wet ground ~ mud, and on the flat _tskxe_ ~ rock, without cloth for trade they could not trade for a home tree.

They called this progress; they called this evolution; as the machines grew, Gaia's whispers faded from the ears of her people. Their tree of voices rejected the Sky People, if any remembered where to find it at all. They filled their hearts with a lust for shiny rocks, fed their machines with Gaia's blood. Pieces of cloth they traded for square home trees, and glowing machines that told them false stories or showed memories of Sky People fighting Sky People, replacing play with war. All of these things and more, made them forget that they had lost their way. The sky people words for this were "Hate" to be separate and carry ice in ones heart for people, "Sloth" to be asleep on your feet or awake in your bed, and "Greed" to worship the cloth or to be alone in a home tree.

One of the Sky People I must tell you of, a man of much cloth, the Iroquois man, Onatah.

The Iroquois man was the last Voice of Gaia, and chose not to listen. He was at first a simple man, then was twisted into the ways of the Sky People by the forces of his time, and always knew not to speak to Gaia and to not hear her. In his escapes from the greater cities of Earth, he frequently walked amongst the last trees of his people, and found a place to let himself wander into the dreaming, not to talk to Gaia, but to punish himself for hating his people, hating his life, hating his past and his future.

One day, the drink he called peyote was his, it made his body fall asleep and his mind float away from him. Through the eye of Gaia there was always _aungia_ ~ omen, but he would forget, chose not to believe. He embraced death, and fought against the every day of his life. But in pieces, in fragments, his mind was flooded, until Gaia showed him a vision like none he had seen before, not until the day he watched the stories on his glowing box, was it then that everything became real.

When he went to his home tree, he saw in the glowing box, a story of war, a fight like no other, I recite the words that he heard; "This video feed is from satellite imaging and data feeds from mounted cameras on the battle copters. The entirety of the latest conflict only lasted for one day; many of the prior battles were quick and violent. The recent defeat was said to be caused by the indigenous Na'vi, and was primarily led by former Marine, Lt Jake Sully, and subsequently into direct opposition to RDA corporate security forces. We will keep you updated on the coverage as events unfold. Due to signaling delays, the details are currently incomplete. We only have formal statements from RDA executives on their justifications for a stronger military force presence. RDA, in response to these attacks, is amassing increasing numbers of opposition forces to contain the alleged insurgency, and resume mining operations on Pandora."

Gaia was screaming, right into his heart, tormented, in pain. A dire state of fear and dread entered the heart of Gaia, and then entered him. She pleaded with him, begged of him; save her Gaia shouted at him, for she was dying, and she wanted to live.

He was no believer, he was seeing visions he believed were wrong, believed were false. When he awoke from the dreaming, so many times before, he dusted them off his skin like the leaves that fell upon him. This time should have been no different, but his mind, his heart, and his visions were at last one within him, and he finally one with the voice of Gaia. He wept silently for hours with his hands on his favored tree. A tree whose last leaves had just fallen to the ground, a tree he watched slowly die and rot over the years, he had come to finally die himself at its base, but Gaia had something for him to do.

He saw images of the fight on the box again, and remembered his vision; the call of Gaia was clear as roar, and loud as a water fall… "TAKE ME TO EYWA, PLEASE!"

Reading the history of his people, he remembered the stories of the killing, the invasion of the Africa and the America. His heart filled with fire, the ice in him melted then boiled away. _Palulukan_ ~ Thanator would have run shrieking like the _Ikran_ ~ Banshee from the monster that had awakened in him. This monster was fueled by rage, by anger, by sadness and grief, not his own, but that of his ancestors. It was as if their voices rose up and declared in unison, "SAVE THEM!"

Gaia, and his ancestors were within him now, and they were pulling him to Pandora, to the Na'vi, to Eywa. To refuse was impossible for him now.

On his world, he was given the cloth of trade for the work of changing life, the sky people called this work "genetic surgery". This work helped some people, but others used it to reject what they were and become someone else, or became something else. This work is what my father said made his life as Na'vi possible. Dr Augustine was the best at this work for plants, it is said she was the first Sky People Friend to the Na'vi. This man was different, colder, broken, filled with a hidden madness, driven by an ancient vow that so few on his world knew, and he was only just now beginning to understand it differently, or so he thought he understood it.

He traded his cloth, and he wandered his Earth. He met with the last of the ancient tribes, those who would listen to the call of Gaia, those who would believe him. Thousands, millions, like the stars they came on to him, and heard his message, so he showed them the visions. They felt it in their bones, they felt it in their Hearts; the fire of one became the fire of all.

On the day of black blood, they struck at the heart of the enemy on Earth. My father called this a "Civil War", a war between two kinds, two beliefs, those who worshiped the Cloth, and those who worshiped the Gaia.

The war raged for three years, and tore at Gaia, it tore at her soul. The word of its beginnings reached the worshipers of the Cloth, and their forces of Earth chose to leave for Pandora. To stop this madness, to strike at the heart of it, would it grow, or fall silent? Questions became ideas, and ideas became strategies, and strategies became law.

The followers of Gaia would not let the Flame die, they wanted revenge, they wanted more blood, and they believed that this war had to be won by them. A fighting like no other before it had begun…

Earth was broken, dying, savaged by hatred, but her spirit, Gaia, lived on in one man. A vessel, the people came to him for prayer and he knew that his mission was theirs.

All of what they had, what they thought they needed, they sold it, traded it, left it behind. They took with them guns, bows and arrows, the science and machines of the Sky People, and the fastest of ships. More than this, they took the heart of fire, and they carried it off to Pandora. The last tribes of man were going to fight a war of three worlds on the Shores of Pandora, and there was nothing the Na'vi could do to stop the coming storm.

In his mind, Onatah, he knew the ways to change humans, and he thought of different ways, faster ways, and the people gave themselves to his learning. Many were sacrificed, many were killed, all in the name of his war, and they gave themselves to him willingly. The journey to Pandora was a long one, and he was not going to sleep on the way. Faster ships meant a shorter trip, and he was going to beat his enemies here by a full year's time.

Death was his woman, his consort; he bedded her down, and loved her in the morning. His twisting mind was a weave of the old ways of the Sky People, and his reborn life of a free People of Gaia and Eywa, he would have the coffee and the beer as he tended his Lophophora flowers and eating a hamburger, then sing the songs of prayers to Gaia while working on his studies of the DNA, listen to Sky People music while doing the Ghost Dance. A tool of salvation, or the bringer of ruin, few could question his reasons, but many would come to question his actions. He feared that he would be viewed in a bad light by the Na'vi, and pleaded with his people to not discuss his darkness. He said to his people, to be free, all must only seek the light, and victory over the worshipers of the cloth. The people listened, and vowed to do as he asked.

In the time when this happened, at the home of my people, I was very young, I was sometimes called _Toruk Mokto 'ite_ ~ daughter of Toruk Mokto. The name remained with me for years, and _Oeyä sempu_ ~ my father was so very proud of it. He would call me that in strange ways, "tomo 'ite" which he said almost meant something in another language of the sky people… He told me it meant "the friendly archer". This he said was my mother's little name.

Father did not want to teach me his language, but I learned it anyway. It was filled with so many words, some that described things I never saw before, except in Sky People books. It had some words that were a different way to describe my home. I was so excited to learn these things. I never knew how much pain some of these words could cause my family, they reminded them of a story they wanted to forget. I would not have been curious, except my father still had a bad accent more strange than the Na'vi from far away, and I once heard him use words that no one else knew. He spent years teaching me, with help from other Sky People, and a school at the home of the Sky People; a few of my friends went with me to learn. Curiosity was so strong in us, we had to know about so much, and we could not hold it back. It made us see our home with colder eyes, but with wider eyes, they had tools from their world that show us the way the Sky People see our world, the reason the Sky People came. They taught us the things that would change our lives for the better, and the things that could harm us, but my father knew better than to leave a lesson alone, he taught me more than what the Sky People here on Pandora wanted to say.

My father told me stories of the Wars of Earth, the power of their weapons, the machines they created to help them to kill. We knew we were the same; we were not as far down the path, but many of the same things we were already starting. We lived in peace compared to the Sky People, but there was conflict between the clans, and Greed would surface for simpler things, clans would go to war, but not like the Sky People. The Sky People would destroy an entire clan, if that clan had what they wanted. They have done it before so many times to their own people. We were not even their own kind, what sort of war would they bring to us, would the peace we had end someday? We knew they worshiped the cloth, the owning of land and of people, did they want to own us, to trade us, what would they do with us?

The day came when the questions would end, and the knowing brought more fear and more sorrow than the Na'vi had known. In some way, this had to happen, but we still prayed to Eywa that it hadn't. It was the end of daylight on this day, and the forest was waking up, the thoughts of our people was to rest, and to sleep, and to think about the next day's _tayaron_ ~ hunting, the _tsaheylu ikranhu_ ~ bonding with banshee, a celebration of a _muntxa si_ ~ mating that brought a new child to the Omatikaya clan. _Oeyä sa'nok_ ~ My mother wanted me to watch as she guided the prayers, she said it would be my duty to do the same, so I needed my rest as we would begin at first light of the rising sun.

On the day that the Iroquois man, Onatah came, the wind was slow. I keep my thoughts quiet, and my desires closed, and find a place to lie down for the night. Just then the sound came, my father was keen to it and ready for it always, but he did not want to hear it, not ever again. The sounds of the flying machines of the Sky People, they were here, they had returned, but my father said that their ships must not come, they should not come, but I have known him to be wrong about many things, and my mother to be right about many things. The Sky People wanted the cloth, and what they could take from _Eywa'eveng_ ~ Pandora would give it to them. What we found out later was much worse.

He was on the bridge of the ship that came from Earth, his head was covered and hiding his hair. He was looking out at our home from the deep blackness, with the look of a deepening suffering. Something was stirring in him that no one could know, no one could see, his people were gone, his world was gone. Gaia was with him, and his new nation was ready to die for what they believed. He announces to his people, and all ships hear him, "It is time for the prayer! May our brothers and sisters accept us or lay us low; I bring Earth Mother with me to avenge the breaking of the spiral, to restore the balance, to close the eyes of our ancestors for a much needed sleep and give them a peaceful return to the dreaming."

He did not practice the old ways of his ancestors before, he was not like them, he lived in the tall houses, and used the Sky People machines; but, he believed he had changed, that he must be different than he was. All these years that had passed without a complacent thought, and now he had come here, to my home, to do what? Was he here to save us? His people were killing us. Was he here to help us? His people were taking our land, killing _Eywa'eveng_. Was he so different from the other Sky People? He was, but not in the way we were led to believe.

His ship was small, between the size of Ikran and Toruk, and floated in ever so slowly. It came through the _Iknimaya_ ~ the path of the flying mountains, past the great river canyon, over the ashen waste land of _Kerusey_ _Kelutral_ ~ Dead Hometree, then finally landed near the _Swotu Ayutral Aymokriyä_ ~ Sacred Trees of Voices where we were preparing our recent dead for the joining with Eywa. This must not be, but it happened anyway, and the Na'vi people were ready for war again! Bows were drawn quickly, and everyone drew blades; even the children were ready, barely able to walk without stomping, and they were prepared to die fighting this enemy. The top of his ship opened, and two empty hands were shown first. A mask was on his dark face, a man the same size as the other Sky People, a strong healthy body my father told me.

He smiled a very temporary smile, and then spoke in the Na'vi language, the most formal I heard, words from many tribes, he was easy to understand, and strong within his voice. There was such passion in him, I could feel him crying inside, the sadness on his face pulled upon my heart, I wanted to reach for him, and comfort him, I could not understand why, but it was always there when he spoke.

_Oel aynengaru kuyameie, Kaltxì ma Na'viyä sute_… ~ "Hello, Na'vi people, I see you. I bring you a message of grave and most dire importance. The Sky People are coming, and not just we, those I have brought with me. We are fighting a terrible war, one like no other, and have at last seen the horror of what we have let happen. We have come to serve the Na'vi people, to help you, to fight for you. Please, let us. We call ourselves the People of Gaia. Accept us as such and no other, welcome us as such and no other, tell us to die as such and no other. The People who serve the RDA fight with cold hearts, we fight with hot hearts. The fire that burns within us is hotter than your suns, and we give this fire to you. If you reject us, we will go, but they will come anyway."

My mother was not easily convinced by these words, she had been tricked by her own kind before, and so had my father, there is something unclear about the way he speaks, not solid in the way he chooses to talk to us. Like he is afraid we will see him, even though we must. My mother speaks to my father in the Language of the Sky People, I only heard her do this once before, I knew that she could, but she never did.

"What do you think he wants? Does he think we believe him? If he knows so much about us, why did he not know to never to come here?"

"I'll talk to him."

"What if he is dangerous?"

"Then I'll kick his ass."

My father was often a _skxawng_ ~ moron but _tsteu_ ~ brave, more _skxawng_ my mother would say _'eveng leskxawng akewong lolu_ ~ moronic alien child, even though he was not anymore.

I wanted to listen, so I followed my father. I wanted to know what kicking ass would be like. I read about the ass, it was a strange furry _pa'li_, this man did not look like one, and kicking one would likely get you _takuk_ ~ struk in the _ontu_ ~ nose. This man, he had the look of one who could _takuk_ like _pa'li_, but the sadness in his eyes, it was stronger than his arms, his chest, this sadness pulled him to the ground as he stood away from his ship.

"Who are you?"

"You can call me nothing, no one, call me sword or axe, call me spear, for the Na'vi… that is what I am."

"Cut the shit man, I wasn't born yesterday, speak plainly to me."

"You must be Jake Sully, I didn't get a good look at you from the news."

"News?"

"Your fight, it made you a planetary hero back home on earth, doing what no one could before you."

"Why?"

"My ancestors suffered; the people I brought with me suffered. I showed them, I gave them the Voice of Gaia, we all finally heard it, because of you. And it was almost too late."

"What?"

"I thought you might be like us, able to see what I spoke of, but I did not know you as a human. What tribe are you?"

"Omatikaya."

"No! From earth?"

"None, I am a working class grunt, no tribe."

"We are all from tribes if we look deep within us, mine was Iroquois."

"Mine was probably Scandinavian, but I don't really care. I am Omatikaya now."

"We have learned to connect with Earth Mother, because of you, you showed us, and it was fate. We had to come."

"Now you have to go back."

"I understand your words, but you must understand mine. RDA is coming; they are bringing a full assault army, marines, navy, air force. They are coming here to shut you down forever. Without advanced weapons or tactics, Pandora is lost. They will drop a terra forming facility into the ocean so that you cannot get at it, and dig in near there. If you attack, they will use nukes here."

"What about the laws and regulations?"

"They are done, they are no more. The people of earth wandered down a self destructive path, and I followed with them. But, before I let myself die, Gaia pleaded with me to take her here. When I knew what was coming, what fate awaited the Na'vi, I started a war, and the Earth is destroyed."

He showed an image like the ones at the home of our Sky People friends, only it was a round ball, and my father knew it's name. The ball was red, and on fire, it was cracked and broken, like and Ikran egg.

"Earth?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"We had to stop it, there could not be anymore. The fighting escalated, and this happened."

"Who did this?"

"I did. Not by my hand, or the people I brought with me, but by my actions, by my will, this happened. This is my fault, but I would rather die, than let this happen again here."

Fighting humans was not something my father wanted the Na'vi people to face again; they lost so many before, this was not a happy evening.

Through the night, my father and this man spoke, two _olo'eyktan_ ~ clan leaders from different worlds yet the same, different pasts yet the same, different hearts yet the same, making preparations for a new war. He was also like my mother, and like Mo'at, and like Toruk Mokto in one person, a strange mix of all three. He knew things like my mother and Mo'at new them, you could feel it as he praised _atokirina'_ ~ wood sprites without hesitation, the way we would gently speak in Na'vi whispers to them. I watched them speak until I fell asleep, and later woke up held by my mother away from them, and closer to grandmother.

When my father and mother spoke, it was in looks, in single words, the simplest of touches. I could not understand them, but they always understood each other. The way they spoke now was different; it was cold, ordered, not like I was familiar with. Overnight they became strangers to me.

"Neytiri, the humans are bringing many ships and many troops, they were not discouraged by our fight, and they simply decided to wipe us out, not just Omatikaya, the whole damned planet."

"How?"

"They can change a world, they did it with a world we called Mars a long time ago. If they do it here, it will kill us all, not just the people, but everything that breathes."

Mo'at listening simply lifts her head and looks at my father "What will you do?"

My mother looks at me and smiles "What will you do?"

"Me?" I thought she wanted me to answer the question, I was so sure that I had the answer, so I spoke it in English. "I will Kick their Ass in the face!"

My father laughed with such a strong laugh, it carried all around us, deep and strong like him. My mother looked at my father, and very shortly his laugh stopped.

"Right, not funny." My father seemed to think it was not a good time to laugh, but only after my mother _fìkehe_ _poru tìng nari_ ~ gave him this no-no look.

"You see what you are teaching her! I am going to keep her with the other children; you have your war party over there."

"tslolam! tìmuntxa nantanghu…"

"Pxasik, Ma lestia Skxawng, pehemìri poanìl nìapxapam lesan larmu!"

I won't translate; it isn't all that nice what they said.

The children are good at games, they like to play with the floating rocks, because they do not listen, no one can break the rules of the rocks. This game we play, we find our own rock, and stand on it, trying to balance so that we do not fall, tied onto ropes of vine so that we do not fly away. Then, we must catch the ikran, the first one is Munemun'I, his name means two cuts, a good name for a boy. If we fall of the rocks, we must catch the ikran, if we stay on the rocks we are ikran and must fly. There is one more challenge, to catch the ikran, we must engage the bond; queue and antenna cannot touch, so we just grab the tail and the queue with our hands only. My mother played this game, and so did her mother, but she always tells me not to play it, because she is afraid for me to fall. The other children play it, even now they play it, and I can understand why; so many children wish to grow up, but they are too small to climb the thundering mountains, too young to make the journey, too weak to hold the ikran and form _tsaheylu_ ~ the bond. But as a child, you know one day you will do this, and the game is so much fun, it brings _letxura lelrrtoka te'lan_ ~ strong smiling hearts.

I am good at this game, I find a way to hold on to the rocks with my feet, to jump from my rocks to others, my balance is always good, and I can find my way to catch ikran before anyone, I am fast, I am smart like my mother, strong like my father, and so I jump.

I awoke to so many looking at me, my mother and father crying, I never saw father cry, and they grabbed me so hard they squeezed me, I knew they loved me, but what made them be this way? And then I felt it, the pain on my head. I did not remember, but they told me I hit two cuts, then a rock hit me, and then the ground hit me harder as the rocks betrayed me.

"Tsakemìri a Poet Tìtxen säpi! Lu Eywa awngahu!" ~ She is Awake! Eywa is with us!

My parents, family, cousins were saying over and over, she's awake. There were Sky People here, more now, a few from the old home, a few from the Iroquois man. My parents were so scared, they called everyone to help, I woke up to sweet fruit, and the comfort of the softest bed. So many people, was I so far gone, was I lost to them? They had the look of strain, stress, worry, I knew there was much to be done, much to be worried about, but they were here to see me. I felt shame for making them worry?

"toktor Mari'ann, ohe, sempu tswayon tskxe si, fte sa'nok, tsap'alute, txoa, zamunge txopu, tswayon tskxe, ohe lu skxawng… käaaa" I could barely speak; my words were a tiny scrambled mess, like the eggs my father would make. "tìsrawìri" ~ pain, it entered my mind the closest way to describe how I felt right then.

"You hit your head, rest a bit kiddo. Try not to think… It'll give you headaches…" The Doctor Maryann was kind, she was pretty for human. She had hair like the sun, yet I knew her only as _Uniltìrontokx_ ~ dream walk body or AVATAR as the humans would say. She would help teach the Na'vi 'eveng like me, but I knew her face, as human it was the same as her _Uniltìrontokx_. She was one of the ones who stayed, the ones who helped us. She loved my people, and I always saw it her eyes, today she knew like my father did what the Iroquois man brought _aungia letsam_ ~ omen of war, and this was not good. "Jake, let's talk in the conference room."

My father and mother started wearing masks like the Sky People, and the sky people removed their masks, they had ways to change what was in the air, and they used them in different ways for different people. They left my room, and so did everyone else, all of their worry was gone, and I was alone in a white room. I tried to hear what they were discussing, to know what it is that they would discuss, but I was a child, and they never would talk of such things in front of me. It was years before my father told me what they said.

"Jake this is an impossible fight. Even with the reinforcements of Tecumseh here, we are dead. Out gunned, out armed, out manned fifty to one."

"So if we do not fight it, we just let everyone die? Screw that Doc, there has to be something we can do, and I am going to figure it out."

"Like call on Eywa? What is she going to do, have the Banshee and the Leonoptyrix shit on them, get serious; the air force will blast those over grown birds out of the sky without breaking a sweat. You know it. We need submarines, tanks, fighters. We're dead."

"We lost hope before, had no chance of winning before, and we still did win. I have to believe there is a way."

"That was different, and none of those animals are going to be of help in the eastern sea."

Mo'at was always filled with wisdom of the ancient stories, and she thought about what Eywa had done before, and what surprises she had seen at the shores. "I know Eywa has told me that she is strong in the sea, same as in the Jungle, I did not know why she would tell me this, but now I know. I must speak with Eywa, and ask of her what to do."

"You see Doc, something is going good for us already."

"I hope she's right Jake, because this is a big gamble; all in."

"All in."

The next week, several of the People of Gaia and the People of Eywa were standing on the beaches. The Ikran people stayed away when Mo'at was speaking with Eywa. And on the beach she spoke with her, in a way that she had for years, drawing on years of training, recital, prayer, she spoke to Eywa, prayed for her help. The dances, the prayers, the songs, they went on for hours. The sea washed the foot prints away as they always did, the suns moved away as they always did, and the people grew tired as they always did. Eywa was silent, she did not hear us, and she did not answer us, for now she would not save us.

"Mo'at, why is this taking so long?"

"Eywa is tired, she is not speaking."

"I don't understand, I thought she never got tired?"

"Jakesooly, be calm, and wait, as we all must wait."

My father bows to her, and sits next to my mother watching the waves.

The Iroquois man, he was in his laboratory at the base, he was injecting himself with something, and then having his machines do things to him with light, and blades, and other things that did not look as they were meant for healing. Everything was recorded, everything was saved, for him to do these things, _hiyìka ioang_ ~ strange animal, for certain. He wanted something new, something different, he was not going to wait. He was filled with plans, with ideas, a cold intellect, was he really here to help us, or did he have something planned for himself? When sunrise came, he had flown his little ship to the sea, where my family was waking up, and they were seeing nothing has changed.

My father was impatient, and had his own game, he found round flat _tskxe_ ~ rock, and made them dance on the water. The humans started doing the same, they all knew this game, all the rest of the Na'vi watched and looked at each other, and they did not approve of this. Na'vi did not like this game, they thought that the sea creatures could be hurt, the humans either did not know, or did not care. My father noticing the Na'vi peoples' reaction quickly dropped the _tskxe_ in his hands and started yelling at the humans to stop also. My father remembered; good for him; like my mother says, more _skxawng_ than anything, but he means well.

The Iroquois man walked out onto the beach, he had his mask on, the mask that makes him breathe the air of his own home, the mask that reminded him more than any of us, that this was not his home. My father greeted him.

"Where have you been hiding?"

"I was trying to complete something."

"Did you?"

"It is not finished."

"The sea will not help us, Eywa is silent." Mo'at was very final in this, she could not say why, but she felt it within her. Softly she continued, "The will of Eywa is not clear to me now, I must return to _Utral Aymokriyä_ ~ The Tree of Voices. The answers will have to come later."

My father watched as Mo'at flew her Ikran away, many of the other Na'vi followed with her, only a few stayed. My mother and my father kissed, and held each other in silence again, a silence they had not had for some days.

The People of Gaia spoke with the Iroquois man, and for the first time we heard his name spoken aloud. "ONATAH!" it sounded familiar, yet alien, same as Na'vi and not, "Mon-ka'-ta, Wash-kon'-hi, Sha-thu', E-di'-ton." I wish I understood what they were saying to each other, but there was too much of it, too little of it, a language not spoken on earth anymore, let alone here. Names, places, tools they had with them, but I heard the Iroquois man's name again, and then I knew him, "Onatah, did it work?"

"We shall see." He came to speak with my father.

"What are we going to do? Even with what you have brought, we are out gunned, out matched, outnumbered, and now we no longer have Eywa on our side." Oeyä sempu looked concerned that things may not be as he hoped.

"I am not surprised, Eywa needs to rest, she must prepare for something else, and this fight is for us and for us alone."

"Mr. Onatah, for someone who just got here, you are pretty sure you know the will of Eywa."

"Yes Jake, from the moment I came here, Eywa and Gaia have been speaking. There is much for them to discuss. I have carried Gaia here, and now my old Job is done; now we prepare to fight."

"How? Wait, WHAT? Gaia, what the hell?"

"You spoke with Eywa during the recent time of great sorrow, told her of Gaia, and Eywa called her here. I brought her."

"What?"

"Gaia is here, on Pandora, speaking with Eywa."

"What?"

"A new dawn waits for humans, I have brought that also."

"How is this possible?"

The Iroquois man looked out at the sea, his frown was deeper, his sadness stronger, there was much pain in him. My father was familiar with men from his people; he knew this sadness, one that is deep, sadness that is like stones in their hearts. My father had this sadness the day he told my mother that he betrayed her. To this day, my father thinks that she is still very angry with him for this, but she forgives him with each kiss, and each touch, a forgiveness he must continue to earn each day.

I remember my father forgot my mother's shell-leaf when preparing for a hunt, it was important to her, she had found it with Tsu'Tey, a warrior and former Olo'eyktan ~ clan leader. When Tsu'Tey and Neytiri were young they found it, and she remembers him with it. Because father forgot, she would not let him back into the tree with us for two days. He needs to learn, my mother told me. My father looked so sad, hunched into the corner three branches down from us. My mother had a gift for ignoring him where ever he would place himself, it made him love her so much more. He knew she was playing a game with him, even if was not a nice game. He would bring her lots of Sweet fruits before returning to her; to be sure she was in a good mood, and made a pitiful face like _nantang 'evi_ ~ a viper wolf pup, which made her laugh at him sometimes.

Even with the passage of time, I know my fathers and mothers love for each other so very well, and I would never forget it. I could not know how different they were, I did not know him when he was in his old metal bones, I did not know her when she was supposed to be _muntxa_ ~ mated with Tsu'Tey, I did not know how hard they had to fight, how they suffered through the time of great sorrow, how they came to be together. I did not know how he could have felt so much love to become one of us, I do not know how she could have felt so much love to let him, but here they were, and here I was, and that was good enough for each of us.

The Na'vi believed that Eywa called him to us, we said as much to him every day. If Eywa called a sister spirit from so far away, why not a man, a warrior. This was the first time he truly believed it. And now, my father was beginning to wonder something ugly, something that would hurt us all. What if Eywa tricked him? What if Eywa hurt his brother to bring him here? What if Eywa was not good to him anymore? My father may have been _skxawng_ in the ways of the Omatikaya, but to the ways of being cheated and deceived, he had done this himself, what if Eywa cheated him, not to save his clan, not to save life on _Eywa'eveng_ but to save herself. He did not know that this was not the way of Eywa, and I do not think he remembered everything that happened detail for detail before becoming one of the people, but he felt these things all the same.

A few days had passed; the Iroquois man was speaking to Mo'at very much. Mo'at found _tenga tirea_ ~ same spirit, with him. They were talking in Na'vi all of the time, never once changing to speak English. They stayed by the _Utral Aymokriyä_, and he showed her his flower, it lived well in our air, I do not know why, but he had changed it he said, and Mo'at understood why.

His flower was so small it was quiet as a plant. Could this have been Gaia? I do not think I ever knew then if it was Gaia or not, but the way he spoke of it, it had to be. At night he and Mo'at would practice the songs, he was being so strange, he was drawn to the songs and would sing them well. He would speak in the way of the spirits, and he would talk to Eywa and then to Gaia, and then Mo'at would speak to Gaia, and then they would close their eyes, and hold hands, sitting quietly. _Utral Aymokriyä_ would touch them both, and would touch his plant, and they would talk some more. It was not like anything I had ever seen, a ritual not taught, a practice not learned. What were they doing? Others watched them, curious but respectful, they came to know him to be like Mo'at, and I was thinking he was. Why else would he speak to both, why else would Mo'at speak to both? They knew something, knew something I must know, knew something mother must know. So I went to mother and insisted that we find out.

"Ma Sa'nok, Mo'at sì hiyìka ìri'koi ro Aymokriyä Utralit tsakem satsi? Ulte, Eywar patslltxe fa Gaiar. moel kasyä tsaseng srak?" ~ O Mother, Mo'at and strange Iriquois at Tree of Voices are doing what? And, Eywa might be speaking to Gaia. We go there yes/no?

"Fyape Ma Tomitxe?" ~ How O Tomitxe?

"Moel patsawm san peyfa sìk molaheru ko?" ~ We ask them how?

My mother was not liking having me tell her new things, she was supposed to teach me, show me, before I saw, before I knew, she did not like this. Mo'at did not show her this, how was it known, how was it done, and why? Mother speaking to Mo'at as I would to my mother when I was supposed to be respectful, it was the right thing to do, even though my mother was much older now, it was a good thing to do.

"Ma Sa'nok, kempe suyi ngegngal poanhu sì poanä Ngayat?" ~ What are you doing with him, and his Gaia?

"I am doing what Eywa has asked me to do, what Gaia has begged her to do; that is what I must do." Mo'at looks at Onotah while speaking.

"I don't understand. What are you doing?" My mother is becoming worried, because of how distant her mother's answers are from being clear to her.

"Gaia has passed through the eye of Eywa, and is now a part of him."

"What does that mean?"

"It means that I am no longer only Onatah, I am now, also, Gaia." The Iroquois man stands and faces my mother when answering.

The sadness in him was gone; there was another face, something very different. The plant he brought was black and very dead. He looked through me, into me, there was something gone, something missing in his face. I had not seen his look before, it was frightening to me, it was certain, and now I was somehow very angry. How could a sister spirit like Eywa, be angry, can this happen, does this happen, was Eywa angry when she fought the Sky People? I thought on this for short while, but the answers would come again, I did not have to ask, I would be told.

"Listen Neytiri, listen Tomo 'ite. Gaia is like Eywa, but she has been silent and separate from the Sky People, she does not know the love of Eywa, it is new to her. She has been given such pain by those she loved, and harmed by those she cared about for so long. Eywa knew these things before Jakesooly came; she knew these things from the humans she took, and the plants they tried to grow here. Gaia's world is ash now, and she is alone. Onatah was the last of his people who are like me, the only one left. Gaia screamed at him for years, but he would not listen. Now he suffers with madness, because the will of Gaia came rushing at him too soon, too quickly after learning the truth. He has brought with him his own army, and it is an army fueled by the anger, and the rage of Gaia. If we do not let them fight, Gaia will not find peace, if we do not let them help us, then they will not find peace. If we do not fight, we will die. Gaia knows this, Eywa knows this, Jakesooly knows this, Augustine knows this, and now you now know this."

"This is frightening to me _ma Sa'nok_." I said to my mother hoping Eywa would not become angry, for how do we stand against an angry deity, how does anyone.

She looked at me with a look I had seen when her uncle had died. I thought I could understand, I thought I could place myself in front of Eywa and present her will to the people, but how do you understand the will of Eywa, especially if you have betrayed her. This is what Onatah felt since he left Earth. He felt had betrayed Gaia, as so many had. Because of this, centuries of great sorrow poured into the People of Gaia in a matter of moments, all when they joined with him. How anyone could feel all of that and live, how could anyone connect with that and live? This was more than madness, it was darkness, and they walked into it willingly without looking backwards.

Later, Doctor Maryann, she said that she had words for this, but they were not for children to hear. My father would say them anyway.

"Ma Sempu, pelun ngengal patslltxe faylì'u letxopu?" ~ O Daddy, why do you speak these scary words?

"I am so sorry… Tomo 'ite, I just am feeling a bit weird about everything. I don't want to upset you. Please forget it okay?"

"Yeah, okay, ma Sempu."

Later, _oeyä sempul_ ~ my father went to speak with _oeyä sa'nok_ ~ my mother about his suspicions, and they started to argue, very loud. I heard many new words that day, some in Na'vi, some in three languages from Earth. My father would tree me later for repeating them; then again for teaching them to my friends; and then again for sharing them with human children on the base. The expression on my father's face each time, was curious to me; a blend of love and frustration; I could laugh, if the spankings did not sting.

I exaggerate, the spankings did not sting, they were very light, but when I want to get my way, that is how I tell it to him.


	2. A Skxawn and his Gaia are soon Parted02

FAN FIC – **AVATAR: The Skxawng and his Gaia are soon parted.**

By Christopher Paul "Txur`itan" Nelson

*** learn Na'vi at **learnnavi DOT ORG** - Dictionary - **mwf-data DOT clonk2c DOT ch SLASH dvi SLASH attach SLASH NaviDictionary DOT pdf **

Chapter 2 – **The broken Na'vi**

I give my memories to Eywa so that these days can be lessons for the Na'vi people for generations to come.

-"Kaltxì, ngengaru luyu fpom srak?" ~ Hello, how are you?

-"Sìltsana tirea ngengahu luyu ma aysmuke sì aysmukan sì ayeylan." ~ Good Spirit be with you O brothers and sisters and friends.

-"Oheru luyu tstxo a Tomitxe te Tskaha Mo'at 'ite ta Omatikaya." ~ I am called "Tomitxe of the Tskaha family, daughter of Mo'at" of the Omatikaya clan.

-"Oheru neruyume ftu Tsahìk." ~ I learn from Tsahìk for the sake of becoming Tsahìk.

-"Oheyä yawna sa'nok sì oheyä yawna sempul usuyomum lìyevuyu fwa ohel mefoti koluyameie." ~ My beloved mother and father shall know that I saw their souls.

I have been learning very hard from Mo'at, she teaches me about plants, animals, and bones. Mo'at shoes me how to tsaheylu with atokirina' without touching them, to feel them move, to sense their flight, to know where to look when they are near. She teaches me to unlearn the _sawtuteyä lì'u_ ~ sky peoples' words, so that I can speak _sweya nìNa'vi ~_ the best Na'vi way. But this makes my words strange when I speak to _sawtute_ ~ sky people, I want to learn to say both the right way, but Mo'at says I only need to learn her way for speaking to "_Na'viyä tute_" ~ Na'vi people. These moments make me _lrrtok lefpoma txe'lan_ ~ smile with a well heart.

_"Ma Mo'at, kempe seykuyi ngenga?"_ ~ O Mo'at I humbly ask, what are you doing?

_"Ma Neytiri'ite, eltu si fitseng, sìyevar wll'u, ke liyevu tìsraw, ulte sìyevar wll'u, ke liyevu tìspxin." ~ _O daughter of Neytiri, pay attention this place, should you use this plant, should not be hurt, and should you use this plant, should not be sick.

She is showing me how to mix plants, roots, medicine for keeping our people lefpom, well. I spend much time learning this, try to understand, she has gathered so many plants pieces, I cannot remember them all, and it makes me worry that Mo'at will not ever let me become Tsahìk because I am not good at this.

_Oeyä sempul_ and the newer _sawtute_, they work on something together every day now. Something my father was worried about but would not talk about. I am never able to watch, I spend most of my time outside, playing with the _sawtute 'eveng_ ~ sky people children. The sky people children on the base play games like Na'vi children do, and we now play together. I will do this much or be in the forest gathering plants for my grandmothers mixtures. When my father and mother go there to talk to the _sawtute_, I am always outside or away from them. The _sawtute_ caused the time of great sorrow my elder olo' aysmuk ~ clan siblings tell me, and the sky people here helped the sorrow leave us. They cannot explain the difference between the sky people who helped and the sky people who caused the sorrow, at least not so that I can understand; they just say they were ay_vrrtep_ ~ deamons to make them seem different for what they did and not for what they are.

It has been the long night since the Iroquois man brought his people to hells gate. The humans do not like not having a sun in the sky for so long, they cannot see as well in the night as the Na'vi people. My father and the other humans always told me it was because Polyphimus was between us and the suns; they forget that they told me every time, but their worry makes them try to comfort me. They stay there to reinforce the air force they build, to fight the coming humans. They work on something new, something my father was worried about but would not talk about. I am never able to watch, I spend most of my time outside, playing with the human children on the base when my father and mother go there to talk to the humans.

The human playground is not very fun, it has no trees to climb, and the jungle is blocked by a fence. There are obstacles for adult uniltìrantokx, but not for young ones. There are some newer uniltìrantokx, young ones made for the humans at the base, they are going to become Na'vi, but they will be children, not grown to adult. Mo'at says this is better, they can learn the right way, they will be given sempul and sa'nok to raise them like Na'vi, and they must empty their cups my father would say.

Norman was once _toktor_ ~ Doctor on _Gaia'eveng_ ~ Earth, I do not know what he did with his old uniltìrantokx, but he helped make the young ones for the humans who stayed. He likes playing catch the Ikran in his young avatar, he speaks a strange version of Na'vi, but every one of my friends and cousins understands him. I was asked to teach him all of our games, so that he could learn to be a real hunter, he fell from the rocks every time, and the game does not work as well far from the Iknimaya. I decided to try out the game of _pxasìk pll_ ~ basket ball, we asked them to lower the ring for us. This game was very fun, but the human players were very aggressive, Norman was knocked down five times during the game. He said it was all part of the game even though he did not like it.

"I think I would be better at riding a _pa'li_." Norman was frustrated with something. He was testing out his new _uniltìrontokx_ ~ AVTR and did not like it being young same as _'eveng ~a child_.

"I do not know how to play this game. Let's read the human books." I found that Norman did not want to be a child again, I could sense it, but I wanted to see if I could understand why. For me being a child meant no responsibilities except to learn, who would not want that.

I know how hard it has been for my father and mother, they do not like to deal with the clashes of the clan within and without, they just wanted to live a quiet and peaceful life, like floating above Eywa on their Ikran, _srew kip hufwe ~ _dance within the wind.

For Norman it was different, it was hard to be a child, he told me what it was like to be weak, and to be _tayaron ~ hunted_ like yerik at school by the stronger children. My father said that he usually was _teraron_ ~ hunting the yerik when he was such an age.

For Norman, he learned how to fight, he learned how to become strong, but in the end all that mattered was a dream he had since those days, to come here and meet with my people. Norman said he had "a few minor issues with his reflexes", he was not able to become a _tsamsiyu_ ~ warrior like my father did, so he went to the schools, and learned to use his _eltu_ ~ brain. He learned our language; he learned about our bodies, our minds, our animals, our plants, he became what he could to become, so that he was certain to be sent here to our home.

It frustrates Norman that Jake was chosen and not him, even now all these years later he resents it, if only quietly. But he has spoken of it to Mo'at, and to me, and to _oeyä sa'nok_.

_"fì'aw ma Norman!"_ ~ This one Norman! I had grabbed a random book of the shelf and opened it to a marked page.

"Tomo 'Ite, do you want to read about the tower of Babylon?" Norman spoke English when he did not know many words for a question or an answer in Na'vi. We did not have books in our language, they were a strange thing to many of my people, but I liked books, and I liked to read in the language of _sawtute_, because there are stories that I like to learn and know, beautiful and magical stories, he called some of them fairy tales.

"Yes. I think so. What is it about?"

"There is this king who decided that he wanted to have the tallest tower, tall enough to share heaven with God."

"Who is God?" He looked at me realizing that we had no concept of this being here, he felt embarrassed because he had not considered discussing the topic with anyone, especially a people who never read the books that have stories about it.

"God is a word for someone or something like Eywa to the people of Earth, but we have (ahem, had…) many beliefs on Earth, and not many of them are similar. There are many humans who would probably reject their beliefs to come and be close to Eywa."

"Why?"

"Because, Eywa talks back."

"Do you really think so?"

"There may not be much I know about _physical_ games, or being a strong hunter, but you can be sure that I know people and the way that they think sometimes. I have known people to lose their faith over lesser things than what your people went through in the time of great sorrow."

"Why did you say '_phy-si-cal_ games' like that?"

"I am very good at videogames! You want me to show you?"

"Yes. I would like to see that!"

Mo'at and _oeyä sa'nok_ would be angry with me if they knew I was not teaching like I promised. But I wanted to see the human things, learn about them, I was strong with my curiosity. Norman and I played videogames for hours; we watched the glowing box, watching the pictures move as we controlled them. Norman showed me the game tricks he learned in his college, he was very good at teaching me how to play. I did not notice my father walking up to the hut behind us. _Oeyä sempul_ stood there for a minute quietly, and did not speak while we were playing. Later, when we left the hut father was waiting outside and called to Norman.

"Norm!"

"Hi Jake!"

"Don't you hi Jake me! We need to talk, Tomo 'ite you go play with the other kids for now."

_"Pelun ma sempul?" _~ Why father?

_"Kängä tsatseng set ma Tomitxe!"_ ~ Go there now Tomitxe!

He was angry with me, I did not know why, he grabbed at Norman harshly and took him into the hut and started yelling in half English half Na'vi, Norman would correct him, and my father would get angrier. I would go and play with the other children, and we would find a few games we liked to play. One of the human kids was always mischievous, his name was Dylan, and he said he can show me how to hear the hut from the basket ball game two months ago. I would ask him to remind me till I was good at it; I have been using his trick ever since then.

"… You have no idea how hard it is to go through this right now!"

"... I don't care about that; you still haven't answered my question! So, answer it or I will bust you up right now!"

"What do you want me to say, we played video games all day, I am sorry. I had no idea that that was worthy of being executed!"

"Do you know why we are doing this? You don't have time to screw around!"

"Hey! Hey! Now you just hang on there Jake! I helped you figure things out not that long ago, it should have been me in your shoes buddy!"

I heard a loud thud, and then crying, and then a loud smashing of furniture, and then some cursing in English.

"Hey! Just one god damned minute Jake! My helping you made it possible for you to live a normal life here. I sacrificed my chance at the same thing believing in you every step of the way, supporting everything you did. It should have been me in your shoes buddy, not the other way around! You didn't want this life, it chose you, you stumbled into it through random chance, or divine providence, or even divine intervention if you still believe Eywa made this all happen! I wanted to be here, and so did your brother Tommy, you didn't! So for the rest of my life, don't take your shit pile of stacked up frustrations out on me, and I will do you the same god damned favor, comprendo!"

_"Pxasìk, skxawngìri nangtanhu amuntxa! You son of a bitch!" _

SLAM, Crumble, lumber, crumble… The sound of many small but heavy thing falling in a scattered mess on the wooden floor boards of the uniltìranyu hut.

"Ngaru lu Skxawng ma Jake! Ngal ngawngti muntxa seyki!"

I saw Norman running toward the base, he had a cut on his cheek, and some blood, and he was a bit bruised.

"Are you alright Norm?"

"Yes, I'll live… This time…" He was letting his tears fall, but he closed his mouth looked at the hut.

"Why did you bring up Tommy?"

"Because I am a dumbass." I could sense in him all of the frustration of being small, and helpless he was angry and sad, and now he had upset his best friend. But, my father hurt him, and even though it was uniltìrantokx the body was that of a child, and the thought of _oeyä sempul_ hitting him made everyone uncomfortable. Now he was the one getting the bad stares, the yelling voices now, and he was holding his head low when he thought about what he had done.

"You two were arguing, and now Norman, _tìsraw livu_ ~ is hurt! What were you thinking?"

_"Tsap'alute, oeyä tsmukan a "Tommy", oeru 'efu'ia seyki. Oeru txoa lievuyu."_ ~ Apologies my brother about Tommy, I lost myself in the feelings of his death, can you forgive me? "Ma Norman?"

_"Srane, ma Neytiri ko?"_ ~ Yes, Neytiri, can you forgive him?

_Oeyä sa'nok_ was looking at Jake with severe disappointment.

_"Tsakemìri a poanil tarmakuk ngaru srak?"_ ~ As for this action, he hit you?

Norman touching his face looks at Jake with a sad expression.

_ "Kehe, fì'uti ta'em lolu."_ ~ No, this thing from above me.

My mother had decided it was important to use _tsaheyl si_ with Norm and my father, she then knew the truth. Even though it was as Norman said, she was angry with Jake for throwing the chair.

_Oeyä sa'nok_ told _oeyä sempul_ to stay at the base with _sawtute_ for a short while. _Oeyä sempul_ was down faced, and ground eyes until we left.

If I could see into the mind of my father now, I think I would feel the rage of a hundred seasons whipping through him like a violent storm. He was thinking about the death of his brother, the possibility that Eywa had tricked him, and was resenting everyone he loves. I wish I could help my father to see once again, but the Iroquois man, and the news he brings us, makes things bad, makes things hard, and is changing us every day from what we once were. I was beginning to be angry with the Iroquois man, for taking _oeyä sempul _from_ awngayä_ ~ my father away from us. _Oeyä sempul 'efu'ia leykolu ~ _my father has lost his spirit, this is sad, very sad only.

Norman told me that my father threw a chair, but it knocked over a shelf and the whole mess of our book shelf landed on Norm. Everyone first thought that my father laid his fist upon Norman. No one saw anything and none of the humans were able to be sure of anything. My mother had used the bond with them, she then knew the truth. Even though it was as Norman had said, she was angry with _oeyä sempul_ for throwing the chair.

I think Mo'at believed _Ngämekelutral_ ~ Your Second Hometree, was a good, simple and accurate name; I think she was trying to tell a joke, the clan was not _husangham_ ~ laughing at it yet, maybe I should learn a Takuk, Takuk joke to make them _hangham_, they would be able to understand the humor of Mo'at. I wonder what other Jokes Mo'at has told us that we do not understand yet.

Norman's _unlitìrontok_ was taken with me by my mother back to home tree, _Ngämekelutral_ is the name of our new home tree. The three of us, with Norman and I being small, fit on mother's Ikran, and the flight was smooth and peaceful. I often would imagine days where I would fly my own Ikran, and hunt with my parents and friends. I see the trees flash by leaves everywhere, the flying Riti. I felt the wind carry the light of Eywa through me, and make _oeyä txe'lan 'ekong nìwin _~ my heart rhythm fast, it was pounding through me as the drums often do. _'ekong, 'ekong, 'ekong, 'ekong, 'ekong, 'ekong, 'ekong, 'ekong, 'ekong, 'ekong_…

Norman's eyes were wide open, and he was smiling, for the first time in as long as I have known him, he was very excited to experience _tìtswusayon_ ~ flying…


	3. A Skxawn and his Gaia are soon Parted03

FAN FIC – **AVATAR: The Skxawng and his Gaia are soon parted.**

By Christopher Paul "Txur`itan" Nelson

*** learn Na'vi at **learnnavi DOT ORG** - Dictionary - **mwf-data DOT clonk2c DOT ch SLASH dvi SLASH attach SLASH NaviDictionary DOT pdf **

Chapter 3 – **The little ones.**

_ "Kaltxì, ma Lestia Skxawng. Säsetìri, lu ngaru tusaronyu nume srak?"_ ~ Hello "Angry Moron". As for now, have you learned to be hunter?

_Oeyä sa'nok_ ~ my mother was not being polite to _oeyä sempu ~ my father_, but she was disappointed with him.

_"Lu ngaru ke tstxo Yawne Tsamsiyu sì ke tstxo Toruk Makto set. Lu ngaru tstxo Lestia Skxawng ma Tseyk. Ngaru nolume fìlì'u srak?"_ ~ You are not called "Beloved Hunter" and not called "Toruk Makto" for now. You are called "Angry Moron" Jake. Have you learned these words?

_"Sran. Ma Neytiri, rutxe txìng a Oeru txoa livu."_ ~ Yes. Please give me your forgiveness Neytiri.

My father pleads with my mother to forgive him, and she does not even smile.

_"Kehe, ngal poru tìsraw seyki. Norimur nivume oehu. Awngal ngati keykamänge fpi Ngaru slängu. Fì'uìri zene lasyatem." _ ~ No, you hurt him. Norm learns with me. We see you for who you are, and it is a problem. This thing must change.

My mother was so very final in her voice, like she was challenging him to prove himself again. I had seen this before, where my mother would be cold to my father, and he would spend hours trying to sing to her, and speak poems to have her smile on him again. _Oeyä sa'nok_ ~ my mother told me they were mated for life, and it meant that they had an unbreakable bond. But, sometimes she would say strengthening it meant testing it from time to time, to help bring the pairing together _txur nì'ul_ ~ more strong. Being separated for a long time brought sorrow to our family, and fear, and many tears, but _oeyä sa'nok_ was worried, she did not talk to _oeyä sempu_ ~ my father like she did before the Iroquois man came, and everything that is sad now and reminds me of him. If I could fly my own Ikran to him, I would make him tell me why.

_Oeyä sempu_ road his Ikran back to Hells Gate, and _oeyä sa'nok_ took Norm and I back to our sleeping places in _Mipa Kelutral_ ~ New Hometree.

_Oeyä sempu_ was always called "_Skxawng_", which means moron, or "_Yawne Tsamsiyu_", which means beloved warrior. For as long as I could remember he was called these things. It made me think of him as odd, but he never was angry about it, not then. He was also called "Toruk Makto", which means rider of last shadow, once in a while, but I knew that story because everyone talked about it so much, so I do not talk about it at all.

In the last few weeks, _oeyä sempu_ has been called something new, "_Lestia Skxawng_", which means Angry Moron. I hated that nick name, and would yell at _oeyä smuktu_ ~ my clan brothers and sisters, when they would say it. They heard _oeyä sa'nok_ say it to him every day that he would fly back here to plead for forgiveness from my mother. But it was true, he was angry, and he would do stupid things that everyone knew he should not do, or do things wrong that everyone knew how to do better. But, _oel poanur tìyawnit lu _~ I love my father… Because of this, I could never say it to him, or say it about him like they do, and _oeyä sa'nok_ would not say "_Lestia Skxawng_" either before now. Things were different between them, worrisome, I felt like I would when a _Palulukan_ ~ thanator was close, like something dangerous was going to happen soon. Feelings like these would make me grit my teeth, bite my tongue, and breathe deep and soft and slow to not make noise. I would be watching them both look at each other with these angry stares they had for each other. I had only known them to be happy mostly, or playful, this was new, not right, wrong somehow, and I did not like them like this. I liked it better when they would smile, when they would sing, even when _oeyä sempu_ could not sing well. I needed a reason to make them laugh, or to smile, or at least place a hand on each other and touch once again.

_Oeyä 'eylan ~ _my friendNorman, he had the most right to say this nick name about _oeyä sempu_, and he was sad when he would hear it, and so he never said it, least wise not where I could hear him.

_"Tomo 'ite"_ was not a real name for me either, it was a little name, one that would not leave me any more than my own shadow, something said to be affectionate. I used to think it came from a mistake _oeyä sempu_ made while speaking my name or o_eyä sa'nok_ said when I was a baby. O_eyä sempu_ was not good with Na'vi speaking, he would say things wrong, or make many mistakes. The little name was also my father's way of thinking, my father spoke of the old languages of his home, when talking about _oeyä sa'nok_ long ago he said many things about how there was many songs in her ways of movement, and her skills on Ikran, or tracking in the woods. My father said _Tomo'ite_ sounded like a sky person word for friendly archer, but in Na'vi that was something else, and the Na'vi language version was once a little name of _oeyä sa'nok_ that later became mine, and then stopped being spoken for a while. The way my father spoke sometimes made _oeyä sa'nok_ _sì_ _Mo'at_ _hangham_ ~ my mother and Mo'at laugh at him. The little names they gave him for his mistakes would only become more and more insulting. He said to me, if this is how they treat someone they love, imagine if they hated me, and then he would smile as if he knew they were not being harsh or _txe'lana tskxe_ ~ stone hearted. My name, Tomitxe came from _tompa_ the word for rain, _`ite_ the word for daughter, and _txe`lan_ the word for heart. To them, this was a soothing sound, a child's noises, the soft _`ekong_ ~ rhythmic beating of the rain and a living heart. Something about these things reminded them of the life that the Na'vi people had to fight to protect, and the stories and songs from the time of great sorrow, and what it meant to not have to fear, not have to shed blood to remain free, and what it was to remain at peace with all of _Eywa`eveng ~ _Pandora.

"A few days to cool off" are about all the time it took before _oeyä sempu_ was asking _oeyä sa'nok_ to let him back into our lives. She decided that the best way for things to be better between us was for him to teach me to hunt. Norman and a few other friends were learning also, so there were a few of us going into the near wood to learn to track.

Learning to hunt is dangerous business when Palulukan, Toruk, and other animals want to eat your food, or eat you, whichever comes more easily. How do you keep yourself and your friend's safe, when you are the size of a meal? I think the truth might just surprise you.

On the day _oeyä sempul_ took Norman in his Uniltìrontokx and I together on _nume letusaron_ ~ hunt learning, we were following a trail of _nantang_ ~ viper wolves. We were mostly to learn how to follow scents, and the leaning of _pamtseowll_ ~ the music plants that look in the direction of living animals. The river near here was at high level from the recent heavy rains, and running swiftly to a nearby canyon. Father told me to avoid the river when it was like this, it looked very strong, I did not need to question him. Father would lead us quietly, giving only nods, and hand gestures, to not alert to our presence that which we track. Norman was learning fast, he was practicing frequently, and knew how to move, _oeyä sa'nok_ was impressed with him, and pleased with how well he was learning to be like the Na'vi people. I was feeling like an outsider, wanting to know so much about the world my father came from, I was not looking where I placed the weight of my foot…

SNAP!

"TOMITXE!"

A yelling whisper told me everything I needed to know about my mistake. The _nantang'eveng sì nantang sa'nok_ ~ the viper wolf mother and her pups knew we were here, along with the rest of their pack, and we were too close to the pups for the mother not to become very protective, they were going to attack us soon, and they showed it with their teeth and posturing. The _nantang_ yelping made my blood stop flowing, then as if I could feel a wind blowing from under my skin, the shiver of deepened and fear took me.

"_txopu rä'ä si_…" ~ Do not fear. My father said backing us away from the pups, but it was too late, they were everywhere. "_tsko swizaw si set."_ ~ bow and arrows now. I did not understand what this meant, but norm did, he had his bow and arrow drawn, and I copied Norm a bit late.

My father nodded at a small clearing, where he was going to call his Ikran, and hopefully fly us away. "ho' wai' hu!" ~ Oeyä sempul made a rapid half yelp half howl that his Ikran knew immediately.

Norm shot an arrow, my father shot an arrow, I dropped my bow and ran. They were on the Ikran very quickly, but I heard something, a wild Ikran, it swooped at Norm knocking us all down as it landed. My father turned at it, and it was hissing manically. He drew his bow, and readied for a killing shot, but the nantang did not want to wait for my father to be ready for them, they started leaping in on us. My father was able to fend off the nantang one by one, but they were trying to protect their pups, they did not want us near the pups so the nantang would not stop attacking us.

In a moment, two nantang were between me and my father, his back turned fending them off, and Norman trying not to get eaten himself. Norm saw one ready to pounce and he ran, leaping over one, and grabbing me, we both fall clumsily into the river and are washed downstream very quickly. I could not hear my father calling for me, and before long, everything in my mind and my eyes went dark.

I do not know how long it had been, but I woke up warm, dry, and covered with leaves. Norm had brought us both to a deep cave, and out of a rain shower. I had been worried I might have died, but I was not dead. Norm spoke English to me when it was just him and me, but he was not speaking at all right now.

_"Oel ngati steyki ko?"_ ~ I have made you angry?

"No, I am not angry with you, disappointed, worried, but not angry."

"Why are you disappointed?"

"You were supposed to be paying attention; your mother told you how dangerous a bad hunt can be. What were you thinking?"

"Videogames, chocolate, my father's Earth, and the Iroquois man."

"You were supposed to be focused on the hunt, and above all else watching where you placed your feet. You have single handedly dampened my image of your people as natural hunters. Hahahahaha…"

"Tsap'alute. I did not mean to damage you."

"Oh… I am not really hurt, what I mean is I think I see things a bit differently. However, you took a few bumps; you are going have to stay lying down, until I can find a way to get us back to Hometree or Hell's Gate. But first, I need to get my bearings; I have no idea where we ended up. I should probably de-link so that I can talk to sat tracking to find my AVTR. They should be able to get us with a pick up via gunship. If I do that, you are going to be alone out here I won't be able to help you. Is that going to be OK with you?"

"I don't know, I have never been alone before." I think the sound of my voice gave away a bit too much of my fears. Norm looked at me with a bit of worry, threw some wood onto the fire he made, then came over near me and sat down against the wall of the cave.

"I don't know how Na'vi children survive to adulthood. This is a harsh place, no way to grow up being hunted for food all of the time. It's a nightmare being so small. It's especially so when everything around you is so big and so dangerous. And why did that Ikran swoop in on us, it seemed unnatural for that creature to come after us like that."

"It chose you."

"What?"

"It is an Ikran that chose you. I saw it. You must find it again, to become _taronyu_."

"I am in a fractionally developed body; it will probably be another ten years before I am strong enough to bond with a creature that size. By then, it will probably have died of old age, or choked on my bones if it tries to eat me again before then… I'll pass, I know when I am not ready. I don't need Tsahìk to tell me that."

"Ma Norm, you are ready now, more than any young hunter in the clan. You may be small, but your mind is that of tsamsiyu and taronyu, Peyral has said so many times, so has oeyä sa'nok. You know the people, and our ways, and are better at speaking our language than oeyä sempu. If you can bring us your Ikran, we can fly home."

He was looking at me, he saw that I believed in him, and he was holding his up a little higher after I spoke. Only a small moment passed and then he was looking at the ground again, and shaking his head not believing anymore. "You are very kind with your words kiddo, but I need to live in the real world, and get you home safely, I will worry about this Ikran business when I am better able to deal with it."

"Eywa will provide."

"I hope you're right, if this rain keeps going, we may have some company in this cave. I found some fresh droppings in the back, I think it was Palulukan. I hope my tracking skills are wrong though."

"So do I… But, If you are right, then we must leave, and soon."

"Alright, it's getting dark, I'm going to lie down. My AVTR is going to be asleep, remember what I told you about that."

"What if something comes?"

"Leave the AVTR, save yourself."

"Kehe ma `eylan."

"It's OK, we will try again, I think we have a way of making more… Maybe… But, you are more important, you don't have another body to return to, so you save yourself, and don't try to rescue my AVTR. If something comes, you run, and don't look back. Do you understand me?"

"Srane… Kä…"

"Here goes…" He was lying down, closed his eyes, and it was like he was dead. He was still breathing, but when I would touch him, he did not move.

I took a deep breath, smelled the stagnant air of the cave, and covered up to be warm near the fading fire. _Txepvi_ ~ sparks jump away from it as it slowly goes out, the _txepa srew_ ~ dancing fire was something I wanted to try with Munemun'I, but he was not good at it, I just liked the sounds of _letakuka 'ekon au si ~ _the rhythmic beating of the drumming.

After a long time, it was very dark, and the forest was showing the inner lights. I wanted to look, my parents kept me inside of buildings, fences, home tree, this was my first real trip outside, and I am alone in the deep woods, I wanted to see it. I stuck my head out of the cave, and saw that we were at the bottom of a river canyon, and that on both sides of it was steep mountain, hard to climb for adult Na'vi, two children would have to walk along the bottom. The fish nearby could see me, and they scattered when I came near the river shore. I thought about the things my friends would say, about how they would talk about me getting my father and my friend Norman killed. I thought for certain that I would be returning to an angry clan, with no honor left in me. I sat on the river bank, and started to cry.

I did not notice it, but a small animal had followed me out of the cave, and decided to lay down against me, at first I thought it was Norman, and I asked him what happened. "Norman, what did they say? Norman stop leaning on me, your heavy… Norman!"

I looked at the cave, and Norman was standing and alert, he had his hand up, his eyes wide open, and he was slowly gesturing me to come near to him. But' if Norman was still in the cave quite a distance from me. Who was leaning against me? I took a big inhale, and I could not believe it, it was from the cave, it had been in there with us, and it followed me out. I closed my eyes, took a deep breath, and reached out my hand to touch whatever it was…

"No… no… don't touch it… Tomitxe… Tomitxe!"

"Ma Eywa, kempe seykängi ngal oeru?" ~ O Eywa, what are you doing to me?

I felt smoothed skin, warm flesh, strong muscles, and soft breathing, and when I saw it's queue move near, I took it quickly and made _tsaheylu_ ~ the bond without spending a moment on another thought.

I could see Norm through its eyes, and the trail it followed out of the cave towards me. I could see animals moving about on the cliffs, skittering away to hide. I could see me, and what I looked like through its eyes. I could feel that it was lost, afraid, lonely, like me, and for some reason it connected with me before, when we were in the cave, and I did not know of this until now. A strong and quiet creature, but very young itself, it had no _sa'nok_ anymore, and it did not have food for some time, it was very hungry, and it needed to find food.

"Ma Norm?"

"Tomitxe, what are you doing?"

"It is hungry, we are going to find food, and be back."

"Do you even know what you are doing?"

"Tsahìk interprets the will of Eywa, and the will of Eywa is to help this creature."

"I don't think it'll need much help from you."

I had not thought about what he meant until I turned around and looked at it, in its eyes. Palulukan'ewan, a thanator cub, very young, very small, and not very scary right now.

"Come ma Norm, we must make spears to get fish. We have to get to those trees and get some long branches. Help me."

"You and your mother have some interesting things in common."

"Like what?"

"Palulukan Makto!" ~ Rider of "Dry mouth Bringer of Fear".

"This one is too small."

"Yeah, your right. That totally will matter in six months when you have to feed it a whole Yerik to keep it from eating your cousins back at Hometree."

"I do not understand what you mean by that Ma Norman, this Palulukan will be wild again. It will not be near Hometree once we teach it how to hunt."

"We have some bigger problems right now. There's no way we have time or wherewithal to teach a Palulukan cub how to hunt. We still need to work on getting rescued ourselves. I was going to tell you before you made friends with the carnivorous apex predator here, I spoke to hell's gate, and your father is fine. They will have a gunship here in about three hours, they know where we are now, and they will be coming for us to pick us up."

"We must take him with us."

"NO!"

"Rutxe!"

"NO!"

Norm did not win this argument. Mostly because my mother was on the gunship, and she understood why I insisted on saving the cub. My father was glad that we were safe, and so was my mother, norm watched as I was held tightly by both my parents, and they held each other. Some of my cousins, uncles, aunts, and my grandmother were at the base waiting for my safe return, but I watched as Norman sat quietly with _oeyä Palulukan 'eylan_ ~ my thanator friend.

Norman, separate from his own family so far from his world, there was no such worried greeting waiting for him, and I felt his loneliness for him, while I was so very glad to see my family. I watched from over the shoulders of my parents as Norman walked his uniltìrantokx to the cabin in the garden. I did not see him for the rest of the night.

Later on that night I spoke to my family what happened, about the nantang pack, about the ikran, about falling into the river, and finding the Palulukan, the journey was not very long, we were only lost for a few hours, but it could have been very dangerous for us. Norman saved my life, and I wanted _oeyä sempu_ to know it. My father decided that he would speak with Norman about this tomorrow. My mother would not let go of me until she fell asleep, and then I did also. The oeyä `eylan laid down next to us, and fell asleep as though it were family with us. My mother told me, and Mo'at told me that the creatures of the forest were our brothers and sisters, like the clan, and they should always be respected as such, they did not have to speak it, but they were showing great pride when they saw what I had done, this made me feel good, and I was glad to be back with my family and whole again.

When I was about to fade into the nights dreaming, everyone was startled and awakened by a _vrrtepa nguway_ ~ a demonic howling noise like none of us had heard before! Everyone was alert to it, but no one knew where it came from, it sounded to me like it was flying, moving through the far wood, and going away from us.

_"Fì'u kawnga aungia livu."_ ~ this is an evil omen. Mo'at said with a wavering voice. Everyone looked at her as she looked at the sky.

A bad omen indeed…


	4. A Skxawn and his Gaia are soon Parted04

FAN FIC – AVATAR: The Skxawng and his Gaia are soon parted.

By Christopher Paul "Txur`itan" Nelson

Chapter 4 – The little ones. -cont

"_Oeyä sa'nok sì Norman awngal tswayon Aymokriyä Utralti leswotu, ulte pizayuru pirvlltxe."_ ~ My mother, Norman and I fly to the sacred trees of voices, where we go to commune with our ancestors.

There have been a few nights of the evil howling, but nothing more has come of it, so we have continued with our way of doing what we need to do to live our lives.

The journey is long, but it is valuable to us. My mother is more trusting of Norman than of other sky people, and has brought him to the Trees of Voices many times before. I have been too young before now, so this is my first time. Norman has sometimes spent hours here listening to songs, and prayers, chanting and rituals, mixtures and poems, he always has a new thing he wants to experience he says to me, but he has picked out a special tree, one that will be very important as the years pass.

Norman lives for learning, for teaching, and for knowing new things. He studied our ways as much as he could, and became wise like so many of our people's elders. I spent time trying to understand him as a friend, but I found myself becoming a student. He knew the plants, he knew the animals, he impressed Mo'at with his knowledge of her mixtures. He studied the stories, and the songs of our people, and became a word giver, using his way of understanding our language, to help us make new words for things we did not know or understand. The word giver, Lì'utingyu, became his little name, for all of the new words he spoke, that no one knew except for him.

When at the Tree he chose for me, he took my queue and brought it to the tree, then said "Here, at this place is someone you should know."

I could hear a voice, he spoke quietly, and deliberately, a very wise thinker once told me that the older the words, the more they mean, or the more they don't make since. I was lucky that I only wanted to hear the voice, and listen to what it spoke.

"_Kaltxì Ma Neytiri'ite. Oel ngengati kuyameie. Luyu Oeru tstxo Eytukan sì Neytiriyä sempu. Ngengaru luyu fpom srak?"_ ~ Hello O daughter of Neytiri. I See you. I am Eytukan, Neytiri's father. Are you well?

I was surprised at how well he knew me, and to recognize me so easily, this was a good omen. The tree was smaller than the others; I knew that it was young, what this meant was that the tree was planted not long before, or only a short while after I was born. I had not known the fate of my grandfather, and I had hoped that I would be able to speak with him. For a long while we spoke of things I did not completely understand.

When we were done, I thanked Norman, and said a Prayer to Eywa for our brothers and sisters and ancestors here. After a short meal of fruits from the forest, we made our way back to _Ngämekelutral._

I was playing with my Palulukan Cub, and found a way to make it laugh, as much as a creature like this can understand laughing, it seemed to find enjoyment from having its belly played with. When it came near to me, when I was sitting on the ground, it would lay down in front of me with its belly exposed, as if trying to change my focus to its needs for attention. I forget sometimes this creature will hunt, kill, and eat my people, so I worried how well the friendship will end when it needs to live in the wood again.

Norman in his, _Uniltìrantokx lewan_ ~ young Avatar body, was leaving for the Cabin at Hell's Gate and heading towards a group of People who are part of the Iroquois man's band of _sawtute_ ~ sky people who have come to fly him there. Before he went to speak with them, I wanted to show him, what was happening with the Cub.

"_Ma Lì'utìngyu, ngati nari si fitseng."_ ~ "Word Giver", look here.

"_Ma Tomitxe, Kempe si nga?"_ ~ Tomitxe, what are you doing?

"_Oeyä Palulukanä 'ewan poru nari sivi."_ ~ Watch my Palulukan's cub.

"_Ngal poru 'atsampi ko?"_ ~ You touched it, right?

"_Oel fìkem si, poru hangham! Kempe lì'u tstxo fìkem'uru?"_ ~ I do this action, it laughs! Do you have a word for this?

"_LeNa'vi lì'u ko?"_ ~ Na'vi words?

"_Kehe! Le'ìnglìsì lì'u."_ ~ No! In English.

"Uh… Tickling."

"Tewti!"

"But, I thought you knew that word already in either language?"

"No, I did not know it in English."

"What did you want to do, today?" Norman was not interested in caring for the Cub, and he spent as little time around it as he could make possible. But, the cub was much friendlier to him, and followed him around when I was not near. This bothered Norman, and I was aware of it, it showed when Norm would try to change our focus away from the Cub. But, I also knew there was a need to go farther with getting the cub to hunt, and to stalk, and to learn how to track its food. We knew it ate Yerik meat; it was good meat, so we had to think of a way to teach it about this.

"I want to teach the Cub hunting, we cannot feed it, and it is nearly grown. It has been two months, it needs us too much."

"That's your area, not mine. I need to speak with Onatah. You and I can speak more later. You want to come to Hell's Gate with me?" He walked away without giving me time to disagree with him. Before my father's anger hurt Norman, before the Ikran came upon us, before the nantang pack attacked us, he wanted to be like the people. He wanted to learn our ways, but with each passing week, he started becoming more distant, from me, from my father, from my mother, and from Mo'at his best teacher. It started to feel like Norman and I were not going to be friends anymore, and this made me sad, but I understood it, and for now chose to let it be.

We have not gone hunting without _oeyä sa'nok ~_ my mother in some time, but she decided that she is a better teacher, because _oeyä sempu_ ~ my father nearly allowed an ikran, a Palulukan, and a pack of nantang to eat Norman and I.

I walked with Norman over to where he was going to speak with the Iroquois man, and Norman began asking him some questions. Before the Iroquois man would answer, he looked at me and asked me some questions.

"_Kempe Ngengal luyu tstxo?" _He speaks Na'vi very formally like the way _olo'eyktan_ ~ clan leaders do during ceremonies. "What is your name" He was asking me.

"_Oel luyu tstxo Tomitxe te Tskaha Neytiri'ite, ngengal ke nivuyume fì'u ko?"_ Speaking in a similar formal way, I answer him, "I am Tomitxe of the Tskaha lineage, daughter of Neytiri, you did not learn this?"

The Iroquois man laughed very heavily, and smiled at me, said I have a good name, _"Luyu sìltsana tstxo ma Tomitxe."_, then began talking to Norman in English.

I do not understand this Iroquois man, he had been here for months, and did not know me. I wondered if my father ever remembered to tell this man my name. My father spoke to him so much; I do not know how he could not know who I am. My mother did not like talking to him, and probably would not have told him who I was, but certainly he must have learned my name from my father.

Norman, the Iroquois man two other sawtute and I climb into the gunship, and fly back to Hell's gate. As we are flying away, I can see my mother watching us from below as _Ngämekelutral _fades behind the near cliffs, and the range of forested hills. I wonder what she thinks of us spending so much time with my father at Hell's Gate, I wonder if she is sad from this, I wonder if she is happy from this, I wonder if Norman is going to get his Ikran, I wonder if _oeyä palulukanä 'ewan_ will survive long enough to become a father.

On the base, I go to the base door to the training grounds, and talk to one of the humans about speaking with my father, they tell me he is busy with something inside and cannot come outside yet. My Palulukan Cub keeps following me everywhere; it does not seem to know how to stay in one place, and likes to see what I am doing. It is almost big enough for me to ride it, but I don't think it would like that very much. So I continue walking around the outside of the base, and I come to a part where the machines of war are being worked on. I see them, tall like the biggest Na'vi, wide like a hammerhead, _ketuwong lefngap_ ~ metal aliens. The _sawtute_ word is AMP, the "ämpx", as we call them, are big, and they are dangerous, and the elders frighten us about stories where these things were used by the _sawtute_ to cut off our queues, or to kill our strongest warriors. I often thought these stories must have been made up to scare children, so they will obey their parents.

The way that the humans here live their lives now, we never see these machines move, but they have been here for a long time, and the stories I have been told about them are scary to me. I do not know why the humans would make these machines, but I do not like them, and am glad they are not moving. Glad as I am, I am always curious, and always wanting to know about _sawtute_ things, and I decide to climb into it, and look at it from the inside.

I don't remember the words for all of these things, bristling like thorns, strange skins, it was not made from any animals that I know, it had a strange texture to it, like so many _sawtute_ things did. I wanted to know how it all worked, and then I saw a word I remembered from the videogames, "START". The controls on this machine are like a videogame, so I put them on.

"STXARRTX!" I shouted. And flipped the thorn with a smile, at last I was riding the monster.

A wiring noise and lights like the night time forest, and _sawtute_ words flowing on a flat rock made of water, the machine was alive. My Palulukan cub ran from the machine, it did not like the noises it made, and started and hopped yowling at it as it moved. I worked the arms very easily, but I could not understand the legs, and then I managed to get it working with the legs. I kept falling forward, and backward, but I was able to eventually stand in the machine. I closed the canopy and started walking around the base, I started to see _sawtute_ looking at me trying to get my attention, but I thought they were just trying to keep me from smashing something fragile. What I did not know, what I did not understand, is that this machine was dangerous to me, I found out how dangerous, I was starting to have trouble breathing, the air was not _Eywa'eveng_ air, and I was not feeling well. I needed to open the canopy, but pushing on it did not work, pressing on buttons did not work, and I finally moved the START thorn again and hoped it meant stop. I was lucky, the canopy opened, and the humans were able to help me out of the metal alien. I coughed for a while, and Norman helped me with water, and patting my back to get the wrong air out of me chest. I am my father's daughter, _"Oe sumpuyä 'ite läpu."_ A big moron, _"apxa skxawng"_.

"sran." Norman said very lightly.

When my father became aware of what happened he decided to have a very, very, very, very long talk with me, and thought that it was time for me to stop doing things that could cause me, and others harm. He decided it would be best to take me to the _uniltìrontokx_ hut to have the talk.

"O Tomitxe, pivlltxe oehu." ~ Tomitxe, speak with me.

"Srane! Ma sempu, oel ngengati tuyìng mikyun." ~ Yes. Father, I'll listen.

In Na'vi only, my father I spoke.

"_You are getting older now. You have much that you must learn. Someday you will be Tsahìk. Sky people things are dangerous, and cause much pain for the Omatikaya clan. Why do you play with them so much? Why can you not focus on being Na'vi?"_

"_O Father I am not just Na'vi, just as you are not just Na'vi. I want to know about these things because they are a part of your past. I want to know about my father, and what made him into who he is. I want to be like him, as much as I want to be like my mother."_

"_We have books, we have videos. Is that not enough, or is it not enough to ask me or Norm questions about these things?" _

"_Yes father, it would be, if you were not better friends with the Iroquois man, than you were at being a father to me, or than you were at being a friend to Norman, or you were at being responsible with my mother's feelings."_

_Oeyä sempul_ lowers his continues speaking in Na'vi_ "Please forgive me, I had no idea you were thinking like this."_

"_You started to think Eywa tricked you, made you help the Na'vi, and you acted like you hated being Na'vi. I could not ask you to teach me, and you did not act like you wanted to teach me. I want to understand, I don't want you to hate me."_

"_No, no, no... O young Tomitxe. I love you, your mother, and the Na'vi people with all of my heart, and I could not hate you more than I could hate my own arm. I work with the Iroquois man so much because he is trying to help save us, save us from the Sky people, he has shown us that they will be here so very soon, Sky people that are like daemons in their hearts. I know that the Iroquois man believes Eywa called me here, but I have decided that I will not believe that, I do not want my past to taint and damage what I have here now, especially after hearing this. I should learn to talk to you more. I wish I was just able to focus on the life here again because it was much less complicated before the Iroquois man came. I am so very sorry for all of this, I will make amends to you, I promise you this. We will have our peaceful life again."_

"_I do not want a promise, I want actions; I want you to be here now for us."_

"_I have to keep working with the Iroquois man, and the other Na'vi warriors. We are building weapons that will help us fight."_

"_More fighting? More war? What about peace, what about talking to the sky people, and making them go home?"_

"_The coming Sky people are not like the ones here, they are of stone hearts, and cold blood, they worship the cloth and make a long journey for this world thinking that they will have much cloth when they return home. But when the wake from the frozen sleeping, we think they will be coming for revenge against us all."_

"_Cloth? What cloth, they can weave what they need! Why do they need ours?"_

"_The Sky people word for what I mean is –money- I used the cloth word from Norman, that is what he called it. For the Na'vi people, he thought it is as valuable as cloth, and as useless in the size it was made."_

"_Show me?"_

"_Later, I do not know if there is any on the base. We might have burned it all or used it for taking notes."_

"_The Iroquois man and his people, they are –Gaia'eveng-(children of Gaia), this is an ancient name for the Mother of earth, and many of us did not know she existed. He brought her here to be healed by Eywa, and to help protect Eywa he brought people who followed Gaia and the Iroquois man. There is a machine coming that will destroy us, if the Sky people start it, we will all die, and it will be the end of us all."_

"_Gaia, can Sky People bond with Gaia?"_

"_Not exactly, we have to drink –Peyote- to speak with Gaia, and we had not done it in so long, we were unable to figure out how to do it. Also, -peyote- does strange things to our mind, it is like a mix of the dream hunt, and the bond, and for humans is often much more confusing."_

"_So what do I do to commune with Gaia?"_

"_Why would you want to do that?"_

"_If I can speak with Gaia, maybe I can convince her to stop the Sky People from killing us. Maybe she can teach them a new way to live on Earth?"_

"_That is a very noble idea my daughter, but it is also very naive. The Sky people have not spoken to Gaia in a very long time, the intervening years between my birth, and when we chased the RDA sky people off of Pandora, not even the Iroquois man was speaking to her. Now, Gaia and Onatah are living in his body, together, as one being. They are not the same anymore, he has changed into something completely new using materials and DNA he gathered here. He calls himself the seed, one to be planted. It is odd, but he continues to say this over and over again. He is changing himself, to better be like the being that Eywa is, and when he returns to rebuild Earth, he plans to plant himself in the soil and sprout new life again. What he is going to do to achieve this is outside of my area of understanding, and the strength of my mind to contain, but the scientists on the base are always asking him questions about it. They say they may have to help him and go to Earth."_

"_Do you want him to do this thing?"_

"_Yes."_

"_What about the fighting?"_

"_Gaia has learned a lesson from Eywa, anything worth saving, is worth fighting for. The Sky people will be returning to a much harsher world than they remember, they are likely to be given a violent lesson in respect for life."_

"_Do you think you will be able to send the coming Sky People back to earth, or will this war kill us all?"_

"_I do not know for certain, they have better weapons, and killing machines than the RDA left here. We are trying to build machines that will help us to fight the Sky People, machines the Na'vi can use. Also, your adventure in the AMP suit gave everyone an idea; you may have saved us a great deal of trouble. We don't have much time left, and it will not be easy, but we think it would be necessary to have the -AMP technology- modified to allow for Na'vi better armor in the coming battles. This is going to take some thought, but we think it will be much faster than building new ones. We are also making armor, blades, and special cross bows. All of these things are why the factory is beginning production again, why the mining has resumed. We need things Eywa does not provide."_

"_What about the sea? Why was the sea so important? Why would they put this machine into the sea?"_

"_The machine uses the sea water, and the materials on the sea bed to make it work better, make it work faster. Also, because we have no sea machines of our own, we cannot fight them there with the Ikran or Pa'li. We are out of ideas, we do not have the equipment to build a submarine, and it would take us too long to build the equipment we need. We are probably going to have to build one eventually, but it won't be in time to deal with the threat of the coming Sky People."_

"_Have you spoken to the –Apxapayä maktoyu ikranit kaya- The Ikran Riders of the eastern sea?"_

"_No. They did not want to talk to us, after the war, they stayed away."_

"_Why?"_

"_The other battles were hard fought, they lost many of their brothers and sisters, it was very sad for them. It was very hard talk to them after. Their leader was very strong, a good warrior, but she was very young, and impulsive, like me. She did not enjoy being around the sky people, and chose to keep her distance after the fighting. She also did not like the sound of my Sky people accent when I spoke Na'vi, she would complain about it to Neytiri for every word I spoke. She would complain about my bad grammar, and my weak vocabulary. I do not think she ever had a kind thing to say about me when I would try to speak in Na'vi around her, no encouragement, only criticism. I think she disliked me more for my speaking than for any other reasons."_

"_I love you father, you will always be able to speak to me, I do not always get my words right either, I do not think I am a –perfectionist- like you say in English."_

"_I don't think I am a –perfectionist- either, but that might be a bad problem later."_

"_What about the sea people?"_

"_What?"_

"_The Sea people? Have you talked to the Sea People?"_

"_Who are the sea people?"_

"_Na'vi who know the creatures of the sea."_

"_No one ever told me about them, where did you hear about them?"_

"_From Eytukan."_

"_Is he speaking to you now?"_

"_Not now, when we go to his –Utral Aymokriyä- Tree of Voices."_

"_Right, I haven't been going."_

" –_tsaheylu- the bond allows us to speak to him in the dreaming. I asked him if he knew why Eywa would be strong in the sea, he said to talk to the sea people. But he did not know that I could not go. You should go and commune with him."_

"_I did not know this, I am such a fool. The solutions to our problems are laid at our feet, and I have been completely blind to them. My daughter, you will make the best Tsahìk when the time comes, don't ever lose your curiosity, no matter what anyone says about it, even me!"_

This was the first time I ever thought of my father as wise.


	5. A Skxawn and his Gaia are soon Parted05

**FAN FIC – AVATAR: The Skxawng and his Gaia are soon parted.**

**By Christopher Paul "Txur`itan" Nelson**

**Chapter 5 – Threads passing through the Eye of Eywa**

_Ayoengä fìfya Ikranä aysyalhu käpìyevämakto_ ~ May we be carried on our path with Ikran wings, we ride out.

_Ayoengä fìfya anìzawnong käpìyevämakto_ ~ May our path be safely journeyed, we ride out.

_Ayoengä fìfya lekame käpìyevämakto_ ~ May our path be clear, we ride out.

Ever sense the visit at Utral Aymokriyä, I had some unusual dreams about always flying everywhere in a sky ship and not on an ikran, and falling, always falling. In this dream, as I was falling I would have thoughts about Norman, thoughts that felt like they were from another life, like I knew him before I met him. But, I was not here to think about these things, I knew I was part of another life. But, what I felt strongly, more than ever, was that I am connected to him somehow, that there was more for our future after this war, something important. But as with all dreams, sooner or later, you have to wake up...

There were fifteen of us Omatikaya flying together now, I had fallen asleep on the flight, but I was strapped to my mother so that I would not fall from her Ikran. We set out with me riding with my _O__eyä sa'nok_ ~ my mother, _Toktor_ Marian in her _Uniltìrontokx_ ~ Avatar on her own Ikran, _Oeyä sempul ~ _my father on his Ikran and Norman in his _Uniltìrontokx_ riding with my father. A few others of the Omatikaya were with us also.

Looking at Norman as he is watching the ground, he is smiling, he loves to fly. For some reason, probably coming from my dreams, I always fear it, dread it, perhaps hate flying. How could I become part of the people if I never learn how to fly, why would I be this way, I wish these dreams would stop.

We searched for weeks along the northern coast, flying by Ikran, but only seeing inland clans, none who knew or rode the sea creatures, none who could tell us about Eywa in the Sea.

After being unable to find those we saught, oeyä sa'nok ~ my mother decided we should visit a relative, Olo'eyktan of a northern clan, someone who might be able to help us.

_Oyeä sempulä tsmuktuan. Olo'eyktan ta Ioangetukaya... _~ _"My father's brother. Clan leader of the Beast People... They might have heard of the The Ocean People, they could have also learned from the ocean people about the ocean creatures. We should meet with them and ask what they know."_

_Oeyä sempul ~ _my father was not going to argue with her, things we getting better between them. He understood it was best if she was right and he followed along for now.

"_awnga kämakto." ~ _We ride out then, he said.

So we flew to where she knew the clan of the Beast People, and after a few days, we were there. We landed on a slightly raised hill, far out side of their camp, near some trees where the Ikran could perch, and find shelter from the sun. We waited for a while, so we could be seen by the Beast People before we entered their camp, we stayed on the hill and waited for them to gather us.

A very large, somewhat old, not very slender Na'vi Olo'eyktan walked out to greet us. He looked like he had too much _utu mauti_ ~ push fruit, or too much food to _yom_ ~ eat, and had not been able to _tul_ ~ run or _tswayon_ ~ fly in some time. I had never see a Na'vi get like this, it was very unusual. He could never fly with us like this, he would be too heavy, he could not ride the _Pa'li_, it would injure the animal I think. How is this Na'vi chief of a clan, known for mastering the large riding creatures of our world?

"_Ohel ayngengati kuyameie a luyu Na'viyä Omatikayaru hapxì sì livängu ke ketuwong."_ ~ I see you all, those who are part of the Na'vi people, and not ALIEN.

This Olo'eyktan was being very formal, something only done at ceremony mostly. He did an odd greeting, excluding some of our clan that he thought were not part of the Na'vi people. I did not know if he spoke English, but he acted as though he would not in our presence, scanning each of us, looking at our hands and faces as he circled us.

We brought no one who is not Omatikaya at all. He knew our clan, but none of our people. For an uncle of my mother, he did not seem to recognize O_eyä sa'nok_ very well, he did not actually greet her directly. He had no one with him, he came to us there by himself, it was incredibly strange. No clan leader as old as him is ever alone, even if he wants to be. My father would have been fine with Just my mother and I, but the clan insisted on having some _tsamsiyu_ ~ warriors traveling with us if _Ayoengä Olo'eyktan Tseykesuli ~ _Our Clan Leader Jake Sully was going anywhere far from _Ngämekelutral ~ New Home Tree_.

This Olo'eyktan had a very pretty _tukru lefngap_ ~ metal spear with animal shapes and plant shapes made into it, in his hands it was as tall as him from the base on the ground to the tip at the sky. He saw me looking at it, and smiled at me and gave me a nod. I never saw metal spears before. I was taught it was not common for Na'vi to make such things of metal, or anything of metal that was larger than a piece of jewelry. I was told it was because it was too difficult with what we knew how to do with metal, yet the sky people make many things of metal that large, they have the tools that make it easier for them. The Omatikaya have learned how to use a few of these sky people tools, but not all Na'vi have learned this, and not all sky people tools are easy for us to use. This tribe was too far away from Hell's Gate to have seen any of these things, or learned these things from the Sky People. I wondered if these Na'vi have learned a new way to work with metal for themselves. Norman is almost Omatikaya, and Toktor Marian is _Uniltìrontokx _and a part of the clan who has a Sky Person mate named Gordon with his own _Uniltìrontokx_ who was not with us here, and a young child the same age as me, who does not have an _Uniltìrontokx _body yet, but I have heard she will have one also some day soon.

I wondered more about what he meant by those who are Na'vi? Did he not want to speak with the children like Norm and I?

He continued speaking in Na'vi.

_Lu Oheru tstxo Aytukan te Ngetxe sì Olo'eyktan ta Ioangetukaya... ~ "I am called by name Aytukan of the Ngetxe family and Clan leader of The Beast People... I think you should know, that I will not speak to the aliens ~ -ayhetowong-. You will have to leave them here, the rest of you may come with me if you like, those of you who ARE Na'vi. I only wish to speak with your Clan leader or Tsahìk." _He was speaking about, not talking to the Sky Pepople; Norman, My father, Toktor Mariann, I could sense it then. He knew about them, even though they were a part of the clan, he saw them as different and would not let them near his camp. Toktor Mariann learned to fly her own Ikran, so did my father, they were dressed like us, but they still had strange noses, eyes, hands and feet, and sometimes they smelled differently than the rest of us, we could always tell, even if they were a part of us, there was always something that kept them different, and this is what my mother's uncle noticed first about them. I wondered how he knew of them, or if he just was suspicious because they were different, or if he had never seen their kind before yet had heard of them from other clans.

"_This one is my mate, he IS Na'vi, and Omatikaya, and our clan leader, he must come._" My mother spoke Na'vi to her uncle, she showed that she wanted my father with her. I thought this was a good sign, I looked at her and smiled, and looked at my father trying not to hide how pleased he was to hear her say this out loud.

My father was going to be respectful though. He knew it was more important to get the information we needed, than to squabble over access to the clan leader of the Beast People.

My father spoke in Na'vi, _"It is fine Neytiri, I will stay here, you speak with him, and learn what you can." _

My father was careful, and precise, the best I heard him speaking, he had practiced some of what he would say, as he probably expected to not be allowed into the camp. My father placed his hand on my mother's shoulder, and as she turned to face him he pressed his for head to hers, and she reciprocated.

With their eyes closed they stood there for only two seconds, took in a breath from each other, and parted, it seemed like an eternity with the reactions it spawned from the Beast People clan leader, and the rest of the Omatikaya with us.

I was a child, and had only Na'vi traits as far as I knew, this clan leader looked at me carefully then squinted a bit. "_She can come with us Neytiri._"

My mother was surprised by this, we looked at each other, but she decided this was a good way for me to learn about speaking to other clans. We had such meetings so rarely while I was growing up, I had never seen it actually happen before now, as I was never brought to these meetings when they did occur. This was another first for me, something very new, if it was not with family, I think I would be very frightened.

How could anyone be afraid of this lumbering and slow moving old man, he was probably going to die soon. Na'vi like him do not last very long in our world. I do not know how he could survive like this. When he turned around to walk towards the camp, I saw a scar from his right shoulder down to his left hip, it looked like palulukan claws had been dragged slowly down his back. How did he survive this? I thought, I must ask him, but I would wait for him and my mother to stop talking. Of course, for them to stop talking, they needed to start talking, then they can stop talking, so I waited for them to start talking.

For the several minutes it took for the three of us to wander back to his camp, we said nothing. I stayed silent, because I thought this is what we must do. I was filled with questions, I wanted to know everything about these people, I was often taught that children should not speak when adults are talking to each other about important things. This I understood to be a very important thing to discuss, and so very impolite to interrupt.

While walking Aytukan spoke more about himself, "_I was once called by my family name, by her, as she was accustomed to with her people. -N'deh- was how she frequently misspoke it while learning our language. She was the only Alien I have ever trusted. She is not with you, where is she?_"

"_Who?" _my mother asked.

"_Grace." _He spoke her name perfectly.

"_She is with Eywa O Aytukan."_

He stops walking for a moment, _"I see... You are certain SHE, not the dream walk body, but HER, is WITH Eywa?" _He started walking again to the camp, and we followed.

"_She was at the tree of souls as HERSELF, she passed through the Eye of Eywa and did not return. My mother tried to convince Eywa to place Grace in her Dream Walk Body permanently, but it did not succeed. Grace was fatally wounded trying to help us."_

He seemed weakened by this news, someone of the people he acted as though he despised, this reaction is confusing to me. I never heard of Aytukan before, no one spoke of him, no one talked about him, and before this journey, he did not exist to me. Yet he knows people my mother knows who have been long dead. This means to me that he has been with the Omatikaya before, but not for a long time, and left under the pain of a very dire event.

When we arrived at a large patchwork tent made of skins, I could hear light drumming, and talking in Na'vi. Then he spoke to us in Na'vi, "_This is the tent of our elders, the drum talkers. They play the drums to soothe their spirits while they speak of troubling things. All meetings for thinking and planning happen here, this is where we will talk about why you are here. They will not speak with anyone until we are done, and that will happen after you return to your clan where they wait on the hill by the trees._"

My mother looks at Aytukan and curiously asks, "_Is our visit what troubles them now?_"

"_Yes._" He responds gesturing for her to enter.

My mother entered the tent, and I followed, the talking in the tent stopped, and seven old Na'vi men, and nine old Na'vi women stared at us. The Aytukan entered and walked to the other end of the tent, to sit on a large, plain looking, shaped wooden stool. The chief motioned for places for us to sit across from him, a few stools that were not being used, but we just squatted in front of him, my mother was not accustomed to using stools anymore, not like I was from going to the school, but I did as she did just be sure.

Aytukan spoke first in Na'vi, _Ultxari awngeyä, Nawma Sa'nok lrrtok siveiyi_. ~ "_May the great mother smile upon our meeting..."_

My mother responded in Na'vi. _Ultxari awngeyä, Nawma Sa'nok lrrtok siveiyi... ~_ "_May the great mother smile upon our meeting..._ _O Uncle, we are searching for the Sea People clan, have you heard of them?_"

The Olo'eyktan looked at my mother closed his eyes for a moment, and then spoke, "_It pleases me to see you again Neytiri. What is you mate like? What is this Child's Name, and how is she? How is Mo'at, Tsu'Tey, and my brother Eytukan? You must tell me, why are you not mated with Tsu'Tey?_"

My mother lowered her head then looked at him, _"Forgive me, I am sorry that word never reached you before now. My mate is Jake Sully and the current Olo'eyktan because of his brave leadership against the enemy Sky People and his strong voice with Eywa. This is our daughter Tomitxe, she is well but has her fathers traits for doing first and thinking last. Mo'at is well, and she teaches Tomitxe to become Tsahìk. Eytukan and Tsu'Tey are with Eywa, they have been with the great mother for some years now. I did not love Tsu'Tey as I do Jake Sully. I think he would have easily found another mate as Olo'eyktan had he not died, and while we were close friends I did not want to be with him."_

I come here expecting to learn of the Sea people, and instead I learn about my mother. I never knew so much about Tsu'Tey other than him being my mother's childhood friend, I wondered no more how my father, an outsider, succeeded Tsu'Tey.

Aytukan responds, "_We live very far a part, I am not surprised by this news not reaching us. I am concerned that I sensed nothing of my brother from my recent bonding with Eywa? What has happened since his death? I learned from other clans about the fight with the sky people. I heard different stories of who was Toruk Makto, from it being Eytukan, to Tsu'Tey, to one of the Dream Walkers. It sounded to me, from that what IS or that what WAS told of the battle, you could have been spared much bloodshed if you had reached my clan first before the fighting had begun. We are very strong Warriors here._"

Oeyä sa'nok, "_We ran out of time, the aliens attacked us viciously on more than one occasion, everything escalated to war in less than a years time while catching us by surprise. Then each battle was very fast and over in less than a day._"

"_I understand. It must have been hard to loose Hometree, this is the only news that remains the same, everyone spoke of it the same way. I sensed the sorrow of your people during my bonding with Eywa, it has lasted a long time. Recently, I have also sensed something very alien, and violent, it was connecting with Eywa, a screaming voice, a terrible pain and rage, crying for vengeance. What do you know of this?"_

Oeyä sa'nok,_"The children of Gaia, or maybe Gaia herself. The leader of their clan is from the home of the Sky People, but he is sometimes called Strange Beast, his name in the words of the Sky people is Onatah, and his presence causes us worry every day. He with his People of Gaia help us to prepare for war with the Sky People who now seek to destroy us all."_

Aytukan, _"Where are you living now?"_

Oeyä sa'nok,"W_e have a new Hometree, Mo'at named it Ngämekelutral ~ -_Your Second Hometree_-."_

Aytukan, _ "You seem well. You seem to have grown grown a bit, though. Are you well? Are you still hunting?_"

Oeyä sa'nok,"_I am well, still hunting, no I have not grown... Are you well?_"

Aytukan, "_I have developed a bit of a problem, and I think that it will have the better of me before the next year's time has passed. I am still strong, and can fight, so do not expect me to stay here when the fighting begins again._"

Oeyä sa'nok,_"Have you expected more fighting?_"

Aytukan, "_I can only think of one other reason for your clan leader to travel this far from home. But, I do not believe you and he are searching for Tomitxe's mate._"

This was something I had not considered. I wondered briefly who my mate might be only once, but I could not think about it now, I was not ready for this, some day I though, later when there is peace again, perhaps after the war. These things were often arranged by our parents in our clan, but only if things are still uncertain by the time I am an adult in the clan.

My mother continues speaking to Aytukan, "_We have more time to prepare for this battle, but we also have a much more dangerous fight coming for us. The aliens bring larger numbers, stronger weapons. They bring a metal mountain to kill our whole world, they will place it in the sea, and from there poison our skies._"

Aytukan looks at his spear for a moment, then looks at my mother, "_I have seen many metal beasts that sky people have used here, I am not surprised that they would build such a thing. But why destroy us, it does not make sense. I thought there were those at the Sky people home who would oppose this? What happened to them that their voices are silent now._"

Oeyä sa,nok, "_They are all here, They are the only Sky People here, and they are the ones who warned us. The Sky People have burned their own world in a great fire, and now their fight is coming here. We believe this will be our last battle with them for a very long time, win or loose, they will not stop until it is over. There will not be anymore Sky People coming here after this or we will not be here to oppose them if they succeed. It is said that they have Metal wings that can fly them faster than the sky ships we have seen. They have water ships that can not be seen as they swim like the sea creatures, that they have bought more weapons and soldiers than ever before. When they arrive, it is said there will be much blood, and much burning, and much death._"

Aytukan, "_Much has been said, how much of this do you truly believe?_"

Oeyä sa'nok, "_If not for Jake Speaking with Eywa, the fight would have been lost, and all two thousand Na'vi warriors would surely have perished at the Battle near the Well of Souls. I would have died, Tomitxe would not have been born. There have been other fights since then, as news of our victory took many years to stop the Sky People from sending more warriors or doctors. I have been shown what Sky People can do when they do not care, about who they kill, or about who they hurt. When they have a fire in them to attack, and when they are at their most passionate, they are at their most dangerous and most powerful. I have seen a fire in Jake like non that has been seen since the time of the first songs, he loves our people, and is a good leader, even if he makes mistakes. Many, mistakes... Many big clan insulting mistakes... He is a moron at times..._"

"_That makes them more like us than I thought._"

"_Yes._"

"_How has Mo'at been teaching your daughter about our people's history?_"

"_She does well, you should make your way to visit her, if you wish to discuss it better. Although, you will have to loose much of that weight to make the journey, surely your Ikran can not carry you any longer._"

He laughs, _"hähä hähä hähä, lu oeru hangham!"_ ~ You make me laugh he says. He has a deep heavy laugh.

The rest of the tent is amused by this, _"hähä hähä"_ My mother and I laugh also, it really is sad though, I wish that there was a way for him to visit.

Aytukan continues speaking in Na'vi and he smiles big, "_Your are right, I have gotten too heavy for my ikran, but that will not be a problem for me anymore... And how is sil..." _he halts his speaking, my mother understands who he was going to ask about._ Oer txoa livu... ~ "forgive me... I had forgotten... My old mind is not so brightly light as it once was. Some of it's old fires have been snuffed completely out._"

Oeyä sa'nok, "_It is fine. I remember her from time to time. We used to commune with her at the tree of voices near Keultral."_

"_Used to? Why did you stop?"_

"_The Sky People destroyed the Utral Aymokriyä that was hers. I have not been able to recover her spirit. She may be lost to us forever."_

"_I am so very sorry Neytiri..." _He draws as snarl on his face, showing he is disgusted with this news... He gruffs and closes his eyes as if thinking.

I never heard about any of this, all this time my mother never once told me about anyone named Sil, but her uncle knows her so well. In Na'vi I had to ask, "_Who is Sil?_"

"_Silwanin, my sister." _My mother said._ "She died before I met your father._" my mother smiled at me, and rubbed my head as if trying to find comfort from contact with me, then looked back at this Aytukan. "_Uncle, can you help us find the sea people?_"

"_Yes... But, I must have them meet with your clan leader._"

"_Tseyk, my mate, and Olo'eyktan of the Omatikaya._"

"_He must have had a warriors test then?_"

"_No he has not, but..._"

"_It must be done, before another day passes. No clan leader can be clan leader if he does not know how war is fought between the clans. If he is to be accepted, this must happen now._"

"_He will refuse. He has already proven himself in battle. He is Toruk Makto._"

"_I thought that would be what happened. When I heard the stories, I had an idea about this possibility, I know the dream walkers can make tsheylu ~ -the bond-, and that Eywa could connect with them, it is why I told Tsahìk never to let them near the her queues. Eywa had done some strange things since the Sky People came to our world. We tried to understand it better, but so much about Eywa's motivations is never quite clear. Even before the Sky People came, we had little way to know how Eywa would treat these aliens. One can never know how she will act, or why she will do anything that she does. We can only hope that she will smile upon us, or lives, our children, and grant us the peace we desire."_

As they continued talking about the warriors test, I was looking at the spear of Aytukan, studying it, it was forming a story in my head. The Hammerheads, the rolling of the ocean waves, the flying Toruk, the flying mountains, but there was a shape near the spear head, it looked like human writing, **少林功夫**, like words I saw in one of the books at the school, this was very odd, I did not know what these meant, but I know I had seen them before. I thought to myself, "why would he have human writing on his spear?"

As they continued speaking, I was alerted to an idea for the warriors test having something to do with spears, and my focus immediately shifted, I had to know, "_Mother, what is this warrior's test?_"

Aytukan speaks, "_The warriors test is how Olo'eyktan becomes Olo'eyktan._"

My mother responds, "_He has already proven himself to our clan! He led our battles, he was heard by Eywa, and victory has been ours because of it._"

"_But Neytiri, he has not proven himself to me. This is something he must do, I can not tell you why until he completes this task. You will tell him, that I will help him, and I will speak with him, if he passes the test. I will not help him otherwise, not before then._"

"_Please do not do this, we need you both for the coming fight, this is not the way we should prepare._"

"_Toruk Makto or not, I will not trust the lives of my clan to an unproven alien, he will show me his heart in battle, or we will not help him. My people will show you the place for the first fight. For now, have some food and drink, and bring some supplies back to your clan. I will send someone to guide you in the time of first sun up crossing second moon and second sun up._"

"_What you are saying Aytukan is not right, no other clan leader would be treated this way."_

"_All will become clear after the test. Be at piece my niece, and Eywa be with you, and with your Clan, See you again tomorrow." _He stands and motions us to leave the tent.

When we returned to the clan, my mother spoke in English to my father. "He has challenged you to a warriors test."

"WHAT? You were just supposed to get directions, what the hell happened in that tent?"

"I am sorry Ma Jake, these things are not under my control. He said he will only help if you pass his test. It is his right as clan leader, as it is yours to refuse. We can try to find the Sea people some other way."

"So he knows?"

"He said he would help, if you pass his test, but I do not know what his help would be."

I thought for a moment about the scars on my great uncle's back, and realized that those were not palulukan claw marks, they were something else, like a rough rope had dragged along his back or he had been burned by fire. Something was odd about those markings, I did not know for certain why I felt this, but I did first think it had something to do with the sea people and why he acted like it was dangerous, "I think that the Sea people are not friends of the Beast People."

The human language markings on his spear entered my thoughts. "Also, his spear, it has a Sky People language writing on it. I do not know what it said, the words are strange to me, but I have seen the writing in books at the school."

Both of my parents looked at me, and wondered where I could have come up with these thoughts. _Oeyä sa'nok_ was quick to ask about the scars, "Do you think that is were the scars are from, the sea people? I am not certain that Na'vi people would do that."

Norman who was curious about the spear, asked me to draw the writing. So in the dirt, I used a stick, and drew the shapes. Norman helped me to complete them, he knew what they were.

_Oeyä sempul_ ~my father thinks for a moment and responds to _Oeyä sa'nok ~ _my mother, "Maybe, I don't know for sure on these types of scars. But, they're not from an _ikran_, or a _palulukan_, they're not from a _nantang_, they're not from a _Toruk_. We all know what shape all those wounds take. His were definitely different, and a bit unknown to us. They look deformed, and rough like a disease or very bad burns that never healed correctly."

I thought for a moment, "Maybe we should not be trying to seek out the Sea People then. Maybe we should do something else, and leave this clan in peace." My parents looked at each other and stood in silent thinking.

"What are they?" I asked Noraman pointing at the symbols I scratched in the dirt as he made them better.

"It is etched into the staff in Chinese? It must be Chinese, if these symbols are what you saw. These like this in this order?"

"Srane. Yes. Like this..." I told him.

"I think those are translated as the words **ShaoLin Kung Fu (****少林功夫****)**. No matter how you slice it, though, that kind of etching does not belong on anything made by the Na'vi. It was made bu humans." Norman looks at my father.

My father was confused by this it seems, "That has to be something from the colony. What did Aytukan do? Kill a colonist for that, and keep it as a prize?"

My mother nodded, and thought for a moment, "It was a gift, from one of the scientists, a long time ago. The man was called Lam Wong, although he said we should call him Mark. He was here for a long time, working with Grace when she first came. He taught something to my uncle in private, something he thought the Na'vi would want to know. After my sister was killed, Mark left, and my uncle rejoined his own clan. There was not much said about any of it. We have not seen either of them since then. We never knew what Mark taught my uncle. No one did."

Norman looking at Jake drops his Jaw, "That is the the most awesome thing I think I have ever heard in the last 10 years. If this uncle taught the clans, we have an edge. With Na'vi strength, and those fighting skills, we are looking at a turning of the tide. I always wanted to learn Kung Fu! I wonder if he'd teach me?"

_Oeyä sempul _was atonished, "What the HELL! There is a tribe of Na'vi Kung Fu warriors up here, lead by some Goliath of a Na'vi, and he wants to put me through a warrior's test? What does he really want to do, crack my skull open with that spear of his?"

Oeyä sa'nok looks at my father, "_Srane._" ~ Yes.

My father thought for a moment, thinking of ways to fighting the sky people, and ways not to fight the sky people, if he could keep them on the ground, then these Beast People warriors would be able to push the sky people back, and away from us.

"Neytiri, how does this warriors test work?" The look on my father's face after this question was the spark of his quick to act and slow to think way of doing things, the _skxawng_ was back. This was dangerous...


	6. A Skxawn and his Gaia are soon Parted06

FAN FIC – **AVATAR: The Skxawng and his Gaia are soon parted.**

By Christopher Paul "Txur`itan" Nelson

**Chapter 6** – **_Aytukanyä aysamsiyuyä fpeio_** ~ Aytukan's warriors' ceremonial challenge.

_Eywa mefohu._ ~ Eywa be with these two.

_Letxura aysamsiyuyä reypayìri fpi nawma sa'nokhu sleyku, ulte fpi husawnu Eywa'eveng._ ~ Strong Warriors's blood for the sake of becoming one with the great & noble mother, and protecting Eywa's children (All life on Pandora)!

My mother explained things in a mix of Na'vi and English. There would be fights on the ground, in the trees, in the air, and on the flying mountains near by. What she told him was he must pick seven members of the Beast People clan to fight, then he must fight that person until one of them can no longer fight, then he must do this again. He must carry on through a new fight each day after each day, a victory after victory until, as the victor, the challenger is ready to face the final warrior. The final warrior he will face, the _Olo'eyktan_ ~ clan leader, in this case, Aytukan himself.

This test was unique, in that only the Beast People did things this way. My mother said their methods have been altered by Mark Wong of the sky people, this was an interference that may have dire results for my father, who until now was known for being exceptional in fight by many clans near our Hometree. It is because of this knowing, none of the Na'vi people have challenged my father, no one has challenged his leadership in a very long time.

_Oeyä sa'nok_ ~ my mother tells O_eyä sempul_ ~ my father about the first test, "This could be a problem for you Jake, the way my father Eytukan and most Na'vi have learned to fight is not from the _sawtute, _and the way Aytukan fights is completely unknown to us now_. _Our warriors who passed this test before, only seemed to know how to kill, this is not going to be as easy for you, now I think you should not do this. These fights can be dangerous, Na'vi have been known to die in these fights. My father thought about how the Na'vi have learned to fight. He began to think of a way he can complete this test without being killed or killing others. He learned that he does not have to win each fight, his opponents only have to loose each fight. If he was hurt, he would not be able to pass the test, since he has to defeat the clan leader at the end of this test. You can't just fight the clan leader, this is about the journey through the other warriors, and learning was part of the test. You have to show a specific skill by the end of each fight. Also, Aytukan may intervene if you are not being fair in your choices of opponents or he has not seen a different skill. Only Aytukan knows what is fair, or which skills are important when he makes his Judgments. Even if you win a match, if it is with the some technique that you use, he may want you to complete the fight again. He may not tell you why, try to win a different way if this happens."

_Oeyä sempul_ takes a deep breath, looks at the stone pit where the ground matches are supposed to take place, and is greeted in the middle by the Beast People Tsahìk. She says a warriors blessing from Eywa, "_Eywa mefohu. __Letxura aysamsiyuyä reypayìri fpi nawma sa'nokhu sleyku, ulte fpi husawnu Eywa'eveng._" and signals the test to begin.

Aytukan sat in a carved stone bench quietly watching these matches in the rock pit.

_Oeyä sa'nok tells us_, "The first fight, the warriors would shoot arrows from bows at each other, they would have to pick them up, aim, draw and fire, as quickly as possible."

I thought, hopefully, my father would not kill the other warrior, but these weapons are not made for play, they are for hunting and killing food.

_Oeyä sa'nok_, "To pass this test, they would need to know what their prey felt, when a bow was drawn on them."

I felt my heart tighten as they reached for their arrows and drew. I wanted to close my eyes, but before I could...

My father drew his quickly, and placed a arrow in the drawing shoulder of his opponent, a young male warrior. The match was over very quickly.

_Irayo ma Eywa!_ ~ Thank you Eywa!

_Oeyä sa'nok tells us_, "The second fight would be fought with open hands, no weapons. This was a test of strength and stamina, the ability of a warrior to last in battle, and carry his commitment out to the very end."

_Oeyä sempul_ wrestled with this warrior for nearly an hour, the techniques he used drew confused looks from the Omatikaya clan members watching this take place. My great uncle studied him during this match, his eyes looking at the hands, the feet, legs, necks, and the backs of these warriors. They twisted, contorted, snaking their arms and legs around each other attempting to gain leverage on elbows and knee joints. The Na'vi warrior managed to get my father into a choking hold of some kind, and my father nearly passed out. I was worried for him, but he awoke strong shortly after, escaped the maneuver then locked his opponent in place, preventing him from doing anything except for shouting in pain. The fight was over, the warriors shook hands and he came back over to where we were.

The next day, Aytukan insisted that my father fight this man again, each fight, lasting longer, different results, but each time my father yielded, and they would begin again.

_Oeyä sempul_ spoke to us about what he was doing, "I can't believe I let him beat me like that. But, they have learned some interesting stuff, this Mark guy taught them the real thing, that last guy has been training for years with some grappling techniques. He had a sparing partner, someone with advanced skills, another member of the clan, and sometimes even your Uncle would train him directly. He told me about some of the Na'vi words they have for these things, norm should take notes and write them down..."

Norm quickly grabbed paper and a pen to begin writing these words...

It seemed as though my father was trying to find out what they knew how to do in a fight, more than just win. My father was in his element, fighting, battle, he was a warrior at his core, and everyone knew this, here is where his mind was strong, disciplined, skillful, in the throws of one on one combat. Every nuance discussed with precisions, and a word for each action and movement. Norman was taking many notes, but it was a while before I knew where he was taking them.

My father speaks many Na'vi words for how these Beast People are fighting my father. "These are the offensive grapple types, named for what is grabbed... Keyur niä, face grab; pxunur niä, arm grab; tsyokxur niä, hand grab; kinamur niä, leg grab; then there are the offensive strike types, named for what is hit, or what is doing the hitting... kinamtilur takuk, strike the Knee, takuk kinamtilìl, strike using the Knee, be sure to keep track of the differences here. Pxuntilìl takuk keyur fu onturu, strike using an elbow to the face or to the nose."

Norman, hearing those last words, halts his writing for a moment, and looks at O_eyä sempul_, "That's how you knocked down Tsu'Tey... Why would they say it like that? Do they know?"

_Oeyä sempul_ looks at _Oeyä sa'nok_ with a questioning stare, and she looks away.

_Oeyä sempul_ was always one to question us a great deal when he wanted to know something he did not, and others did. But this time, he knew he was still on a path of earning the trust of his mate again, moving past his mistakes, and errors, trying to amend for so much that he has done so wrong. He returned to reciting the words needed to fill up Norman's notes about the Beast People fighting words.

_Oeyä sa'nok_ tells us, "The next warrior's test, would be a test of stone, the warriors would have _letskxea txewk_ ~ stone clubs they would strike at each other with them, I think this was supposed to be a test of pain, to know what it was like to be crushed in battle by a stronger opponent."

They swung violently at each other, and my father landed a crushing blow on the leg of his opponent, the warrior fell and dropped his hammer.

My father helped carry this warrior out of the fighting place and over to the Beast People Tsahìk. Their Tsahìk, she is a young woman, who looked a bit older than me, and a bit younger than Oeyä_ sa'nok_. She explains in Na'vi what she determines about the injured warrior, "_We will bind the leg, and give it medicine to keep it from giving him sickness, it is not broken, so it should heal enough for him to use it again in a few months._"

My father comments on the strong bones of the Na'vi and how amazed by it that he is. He and the warrior clasp forearms and Nod in respect to each other. In speaking to us, my father discusses the techniques, "He was able to efficiently, move along six basic strike positions with that _letskxea txewk_, and his parry techniques were flawless. He could easily crush a human thighbone with the striking force he delivered with that _letskxea txewk_. He was using a kinetic snap, basically increasing the striking velocity of the _letskxea txewk_, increasing the connect force of the hit many times over. That takes at least five years to have it be a reflexive technique with both arms like he was doing switching hands with the one. No waisted broad swings, he kept everything in the high pressure zone, right in front, tight guard stance, nearly no openings. He probably can use two _letskxea txewk_ at the same time, ferociously. Mark taught them how to make some primitive but effective weapons. What the hell was Mark thinking? What was he planning? Who the hell was this guy, can we even find out?"

Norman and Doctor Maryann looked at each other, and then Maryann pulled the radio out of the satchel she had with her.

Maryann started speaking back to the Hell's Gate humans. Aytukan saw this and watched Maryann as she carried on a conversation with her back to the fighting pit.

The next fight would be a test of balance, the warriors could fight with which ever means they chose, but would be balancing on a suspended tree branch, the first to fall off the branch looses the fight, and probably their life if they do not know how to safe fall through the canopy below them. The branch chosen by my great uncle for this challenge is very high, and very thin at nearly the width of a Na'vi leg. _Oeyä sempul_, and this warrior step out on to the branch, and the face each other, my great uncle, displeased, he speaks in Na'vi, "_Mengal tsatsengit pängey!_" ~ you two WAIT there!

My father looks at him and asks in Na'vi, "_What is the matter?_"

"_You keep choosing males to fight, do you not realize that we have women warriors, are you afraid to face them?_"

"_Truthfully, yes. You should have seen Neytiri riding Palulukan, I think I am not warrior enough to face someone that brave._"

"_Interesting response, but this is still unacceptable. You shall fight Silawanin, my daughter and Tsahìk. Good luck._"

"_Wait, I thought I was allowed to choose?_"

"_You were, as long as you chose fairly, but you have not, so now, I get to choose for you._" He gestures the other warrior to leave the branch, who nods to the Tsahìk who treated the last warrior in the club fight with my father, and passes my father without looking at him, draws her dagger and keeps her back turned to him.

"_Wait a minute, this is not right, surely you have other warriors?_"

"_Everyone in my clan is a warrior, even me, even the children... you can fight now, or leave now, you do not have to continue fighting, this is not your world, these are not your people, and you are not their leader, we would all understand if you walked away._"

I think this was also the test, a very different one, one of honor, or one of sacrifice, or one of bravery... It could have been all of them, and a crewel version of any.... I do not know the minds of warriors, I am not one yet... A woman with my mother's sisters name, who my father must kill to save his people? This was horrible. How could my great uncle do this to him? He was going to cause pain not just for my father, but for his own daughter, for my mother, and now for me. What was he trying to do? Was he trying to test my fathers Na'vi side, or his human side? Was he trying to see how my father would fight this young woman who could very well be his own daughter. My father's mind was alight with unpleasant thoughts, how can he continue, he musts stop this, he can not face Neytiri if he kills the woman named for her sister, it would destroy her.

"_I quit._" My father turned around and started to walk off of the branch, and my great uncle stood in his path.

My great uncle spoke again, "_You shouldn't. That is the one thing a clan leader must never do, not ever. Turn around, face her._"

My father looked at him, and then looked at me, and then looked at Neytiri and his eyes dropped and his ears fell back, and his tail dropped lightly on the branch, I could feel it, his heart was sinking so very low. That was when my mother spoke, "_She is not my sister. Finish what you started._" And nodded at him.

_Oeyä sempul _inhaled deeply, turned back, drew his blade, and they both began to slash at each other. She slashed quickly from a point that would have cut his right shoulder to a point near where she would have split his gullet. He deflected and stepped away from the edge of her blade, and slashed right to left near her abdomen, drawing her arms low, he then punched with his free hand at her face, and deflected the punch and slashed at my father's forearm cutting it. He made a figure eight slashing repeatedly, causing her to back up on the branch, she caught his blade hand, twisted upwards, struck his hand knocking his blade loose, and he caught it with his other hand and did a stabbing thrust at her neck. She evaded the stab, shifted footing, pulling him further forward to land chest first on the branch and off of his feet. As he was attempting to get up, she tumbled at him, kicked at his ankles and hands, knocking him off his feet, he rolled around avoiding a stabbing strike from her they clashed blades, he flipped her over his shoulder, brought his elbow down onto the side of her face, and she dropped her knife. He then flipped her over, and was about to strike her when she knocked him off of her and him over the side of the branch, he was now hanging on with one arm, with the other, he sheathed his knife, and swung his body around to get back onto the branch with her stomping on his fingers making him shout in pain. The fight seemed to tumble about on the branch for a while, exchanges of blows, and parry strikes, deflections, bunches, and uses of their knives. A kick, a punch, a knee in the gut, and then a hard blow from my fathers closed right fist to the left side of Silwanin's cheek, and she fell down, and almost off the branch, when he grabbed her unconscious body and yelled for help to pull her back up. Everyone rushed in to grab her, and pull her to safety.

My father was impressed, "_She is fast, and skilled, and every bit the warrior you said she is._" he did not look my great uncle in the eye when he said this, and walked past him to climb down out of the tree.

My father was not dealing with this well. He sat for hours by himself shaking and unsettled. He let many tears, and could not bring himself to stand.

Norman once said to me, a soldier is not able to live in peace, they are always a fighter, always a warrior, ready to fight, ready to kill, it is what they are trained to do, it is what they are payed to do. They are never ready for a quiet life, a peaceful existence. My father was not like he was, he was on a journey, something that was to lead him to his true self, far from the life he left behind. I was watching this happen, and I could barely understand it then, but now I knew this is what must happen. He had not fought against other Na'vi since he struck Tsu'Tey down, and never laid a hand on any of our people in anger. Throwing a chair wildly, it hurt his friend Norman, and now he is fighting a people he gave up his old life to protect from his own people, and it was confusing for him, and very uncomfortable, he did not want it to continue, and I could feel it very strongly after the fight with Silawanin. Some how, Aytukan simply convinced him to continue, and _Oeyä sa'nok_ telling him that it was OK for him to continue was not enough to rid him of his guilt. Something about this fight bothered him very strongly, and I had to know why...

I spoke to him, "_Oel ngati kamänge ma sempul. Ngaru lu fpom srak?_" ~ It bothers me seeing you this way father. Are you well?

He looks at me smiles faintly, and then gestures to a rock for me to sit. "Let me tell you about my twin brother."

The next fight is in the water of the rushing river. This test is a show of ingenuity, the ability of the warrior to defeat an opponent in the relentless onslaught of the river current. _Oeyä sempul_ did not get to pick his opponent any more, so he never knew who he was fighting. The next warrior was a very elderly woman, one who looked like she was easily in her 70's by human standards I was told. This was very old, but when she was in the water, she glided to where she wanted to be, and did not have any trouble getting into the middle of the river. She was completely still like she had found her roots, and dug them deep into the riverbed. It was so surprising, everyone of the Omatikaya thought she had been using some kind of magic. When my father climbed into the river he kept slipping, falling, trying to swim, he could not even get close to this woman, he spent minutes trying to fight the current, and move to where she was, and was fighting the river more than her. She started to giggle a bit, in the way a raspy voice from an aged grandmother might laugh at the silliness of a small child. She spoke in Na'vi to him,_ "The water is not going to change what it is doing, why do you try to make it do things your way?" _My father thought for a moment, swam to the shore walked up the bank, upstream from the old woman, climbed in, floated to where she was, and was stopped by the old woman. "_I suppose we should fight now?_"

"_I don't want to fight you, I would like to ask you something._"

"_Alright then, ask me what you want to ask me._"

"_Who has been teaching your people how to fight?_"

"_Olo'eyktan._"

"_Has anyone ever defeated him?_"

"_No._"

"_How long has he been teaching your clan?_"

"_Many years._"

"_Thank you._"

"_You may not wish to thank me yet._"

"_Why not?_"

The old woman punches my father in the _ontu_ ~ nose knocking him out, but effortlessly carries him to shore. Smiling, and laughing in her raspy voice as she drops him at our feet.

The next fight is done riding on Pa'li, the riders are positioned at ends of a valley, and are facing each other, they are supposed to fight until one or the other is off of the Pa'li. They ride at each other, going very fast, my father leaps off of his Pa'li on to that of his opponent, and forces him off very quickly. The match was probably too quick, my great uncle did not seem very happy about the way that match went.

The next fight is done with ikran, the warriors mount their ikran, and fly at each other, and try to defeat the other. They do this over large leaves, so that if they fall, they can catch themselves.

My fathers opponent, is very young, she looks to be about Norman's _Uniltìrantokx ~ _Avatar size. I did not think someone so young could subdue an ikran, to make the first tsaheylu. This child was not ordinary, she had to have learned how to do something that most Na'vi did not learn at such a young age. If this child survived, Norman and I would want to ask her questions, maybe Norman could get his ikran after all. Now was not the time for these thoughts though.

This Na'vi girl, and My father are in the sky over the forest, and the way they must fight is strange, she flies past my father striking at him, clawing at him with her ikran, using the _ioang_ ~ beast as a weapon. She is having it bite at him, claw at him, whip its tail at him, she is not fighting him her self.

When she flies from above him, he rolls his flight movement around to allow him to be in arms reach... He manages to swing his fist, and connect with her shoulder jostling her enough to make her worry, she grabbed her shoulder, and began to fly up, higher and higher into the sky, my father chased her, they flapped, and climbed until the air was so thin that they were having trouble breathing. She dived past my father and tail smacked him on the way past, but it was not a controlled tail smack, she was free falling, her dive was out of control, my father noticed this and started diving after her. For what seemed like an eternity, they were diving at the rushing ground. She was spinning in her free fall, out of control, unable to wake her ikran, even though she was awake.

My father gained on her fall speed with a controlled dive, reached out his hand and managed to grab hold of her arm, swing her around to the back of his saddle, and extended his ikran's wings to pull out of their dive, and finally slow their decent, barely skimming over the tops of the trees. Her ikran was not as lucky, it strikes the forest ground with a very final thud, we on the ground could only look away.

At night, the forest is glowing, and we have started a fire to cook the meat from the days hunt. The warriors from the previous fights, all have come to join us by the fire. We welcome them silently, and begin singing the hunt songs together. My favorite is the one I always lead as taught to me by my father...

"Txaykx mi owìtx txew txe pxawl kxame,

Txaykx mi owìtx wìtx txe kxaroutx;

Pxay mi sume pinutx sì kxuräkxìr tsakx,

ay txonìtx kxärì txo ay ngeviru nget pxäkx,

letx mi 'rrta, 'rrta, 'rrta fpi txe kelutral,

txo txey txonìtx win, itx ay tsäme,

fpi itx 'aw, mune, pxey takuk, ngaru lolu wrrpa,

ätx txe olìtx pxawl kxame."

All of the other Na'vi don't sing this one, they just give me strange disapproving looks, while at the same time, Norman cackles maniacally at me.

Norman says to me, "I think if you sang that at a real baseball game, people would be very interested in hearing you sing it... HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA..."

I looked at him, and realized, that the _Skxawng_ had managed to turn me into a moron for the night, I wonder how long he had planned for me to think I was singing an important song.

Tomorrow was the night of O_eyä sempul_ ~ my father and Aytukan's fight.


End file.
